Sunday's Child
by Helena Mira
Summary: The day has arrived for Maisie to finally make her entrance into the world. Complications are arising outside the house, but for the moment everything is quiet within. How long will they have to wait until the baby comes? Reading the Waiting Time not to mention some of the other stories will give context.
1. Chapter 1

_I do not own these characters and make no profit from their use._

**Sunday's Child**

"And the child that's born on the Sabbath Day,

Is blithe and bonny and good and gay."

A. E. Bray's _Traditions of Devonshire_

**Prologue**

Catherine was the first one to awaken on that Sunday morning of August 13. No one needed to tell her. This was the day. She looked at the clock by her bedside, which read 8 am. She wasn't really too surprised. Normally, she was up by six, but yesterday had been a long day. The sun was fully up, its golden light streaming through the pale curtains of her granddaughter's room. She smiled to herself. By the end of the day, a new granddaughter would make her appearance in the world.

She was thankful that everything was quiet on the "outside," beyond the walls of the house. There were no more premonitions from Aunt Henrietta, which hopefully meant that she was going to leave them in peace. In fact, she had no idea that Phoebe's labor had even started. As far as she knew, the only problem might be Prudence and her determination to somehow get herself down here for a visit.

Before she had gone to sleep, Trelawney had realized that she didn't have her doll, Tessa. She had brought the doll with her from England all those months ago and never slept without her. She began to cry. Despite her earlier high spirits it was brought home to them all once again that she was emotionally very fragile. There were not many twelve-year-old girls out here in the modern world who would weep over a doll. It was another indicator of her very "young" emotions.

To quiet her, Hal was prevailed upon to sleep in the living room with Tom so that at least the girl could sleep with her sister. Hal had given her a hug and told her not to worry. He didn't mind sleeping downstairs and they would find some way of getting the doll tomorrow. Mrs. Clancy preferred this anyway since the little girl was much less likely to disturb her sister's sleep.

Quietly gulping back her tears, Trelawney was somewhat appeased, especially after Catherine promised to sit with her until she fell asleep. Mrs. Clancy shook her head and clucked with displeasure. But there was no explaining to her that she could not be any kind of a substitute for her "Mama Kate." Trelawney finally settled down when Emmeline promised to get her doll for her the next morning.

She looked over and could see that Emmeline was still sound asleep in the other bed. A quick glance into the boys' room told her that Mrs. Clancy, the midwife, was also sleeping. All was quiet downstairs where Hal and Tom were crashed out on the sofas. She went into Phoebe's room, which was now transformed into a "delivery room." Phoebe and Trelawney were lying in bed together, holding hands. Mrs. Morgan, the nurse, was sitting up on watch, crocheting some lovely lace.

"They're so sweet," she said softly to Catherine, looking at Phoebe and Trelawney.

"I'm assuming that it was a peaceful night?" she asked.

"Mrs. Clancy told me that Phoebe fell asleep downstairs and her husband carried her up," she replied quietly. "She woke up around three this morning asking for him and talked for a bit. Then she went back to sleep. She seems very comforted by her little sister. But I am starting to get the very strong feeling that things should be starting soon."

Catherine nodded. She wondered if she should wake the others up or let them sleep. Since today was likely to be another very long day, she decided that it would be better to let them sleep for as long as they could. She doubted that any of them would get a nap today.

"Tell me," asked Mrs. Morgan. "The young girl is a little simple, isn't she? Mrs. Clancy said something about her missing her doll when I asked her why she was sleeping in here."

"That's a good way of putting it. In many ways she is very childlike. She can seem much younger than she is," replied Catherine. "But she is actually quite intelligent and very devoted to her sister."

"That has been obvious since she came running in yesterday afternoon and jumped on the bed beside her," the other woman stated. "And Phoebe is very devoted to her. It's just the two of them left, isn't it?"

"I'm afraid so," said Catherine. "They both miss their parents very much. They lost them a year and a half ago. I don't think that either has fully recovered."

"I don't believe so," agreed Mrs. Morgan. "Occasionally a look of sadness will cross either one of their faces. It seems to me that they are both very anxious that the child be a girl, so that she can be named after their mother. Of course Mrs. Clancy as made the point over and over that _she _knows that it is a girl and that _she _is never wrong."

Catherine smiled. "Well, I have to admit that I'm hoping for a girl as well. My mother shared the same name as theirs."

"Margaret?"

"Yes, Margaret," said Catherine. "It was one of the first bonding moments that Phoebe and I had last year, when we discovered that both of our mothers, who had died young, shared the same name."

"That must have been lovely," she said. "You know it's not very often that you see a relationship such as you and Phoebe have. Most mother-in-laws and daughter-in-laws are not so compatible."

"Yes, that's true," said Catherine. "But the minute that I met Phoebe, I knew that she was right for my son. He was devastated when his first wife died. He and the children could barely manage until Phoebe came into their lives."

"Oh, how did they meet?"

"You don't know the story? Of course not, how could you?" asked Catherine. "Phoebe came to Hal's home about two and a half years ago to be the nanny to his children. She was a lovely girl and determined to set the family to rights, including finding a nice wife for my son."

"Did she think that it would be her?" asked Mrs. Morgan, with a hint of amusement in her voice.

"Oh, no," said Catherine. "When I first met her, I tried to play Cupid between them and that didn't work at all. No they had to find their own way."

"And they did," finished Mrs. Morgan. "Well they make a lovely couple. They are both clearly devoted to each other and the children. Now the one relationship that I haven't quite got straight is how Tom is connected to the family."

"He is Hal's former father-in-law. In fact, his wife Bernice is up at my house helping with the other children," she explained.

"That is really most unusual," she commented.

"Yes, it is," said Catherine with a smile. "It's actually mostly Trelawney's doing. Bernice originally hated Phoebe for taking her daughter's place. But as you know, Trelawney has enormous faith that there is good in all people. Even Bernice could not withstand the girl's barrage of love and understanding. And Phoebe wanted her reconciled as well, for the children's sake."

Catherine looked over at the bed. Phoebe was stirring and suddenly called out, "Oh! Ow!"

She was crying out more vigorously than she had in the last twenty-four hours. She tried to sit up in confusion.

Mrs. Morgan got up and went over.

"There's nothing to worry about, dear," she said kindly. "I believe that things are about to start happening."

"Where is Hal?" she asked. It was clear that that was the only thing that mattered to her.

She was looking back at them uncertainly. She was still half-asleep and seemed a little confused by what Mrs. Morgan had meant. But there was no uncertainty on Trelawney's part. She popped up from her side of the bed.

"They are?" she asked, fully awake. "They really are?"

"Yes, dear," said Catherine. "They really are."

"Oh! That's splendid!" she cried enthusiastically.

Phoebe didn't say anything. She just looked over at her sister as though she were crazy.

**The Real Waiting Begins**

Tom came upstairs with Hal after Catherine woke them up. Emmeline and Trelawney were awake and already there, when Mrs. Clancy came bustling into the room.

"Stand back everyone! I'm going to check to see how far she's dilated," announced the woman. "If you're not interested, I'd say that now is the time to get out."

Tom ducked into the hallway. This was a little too private for him to deal with at this hour of the morning. Emmeline had followed him out chuckling.

"Not your cup of tea, eh?" she asked.

"Not even close," he said. "But that's a good idea. I'll go down and make us all a pot of tea."

"All right," they heard Mrs. Clancy's voice from the bedroom. "We've finally made some progress. Three centimeters!"

This was followed by a groan from Phoebe. Tom looked at Emmeline who quickly said, "I'll join you."

They went downstairs to discover Elspeth standing at the foot of the stairs and wagging her tail expectantly. When she saw Emmeline, she gave a little whimper.

"Oh, so you're hungry then," said Emmeline. "Well, I know where Waldo's food is, so I'll set you up with a bowl in a minute."

The dog scampered into the kitchen ahead of them. While Tom made the tea, Emmeline poured out a bowl of dog food and took it out to the back porch. Tom heard some more whimpering.

"Now you know that Waldo always eats outside," replied Emmeline. "Stop complaining or you will be joining him up the street."

Emmeline returned as the kettle started boiling.

"Silly dog!" she said. "Thinks that the rules down here are different for her than him. Trelawney spoils her rotten."

"Excuse me, Emmeline," said Tom. "But were you really talking to the dog just now?"

"Have you ever had a pet, Tom?" she asked and then answered herself. "Of course you haven't or you'd know that people talk to their cats and dogs all the time. If you get to know them well enough, it's not a great leap of logic to figure out what they're saying in return. Or at least you think that you do."

"Oh," he said slowly. "Well, I guess that makes sense."

At that minute, Trelawney came running in.

"May I have a bit of toast for Phoebe, no butter?" she asked. "And a spot of tea?"

"I am presuming that these are Mrs. Clancy's orders?" asked Emmeline.

"They certainly weren't Phoebe's," she said with a smile. "But Mrs. Clancy was going on again about keeping her nourished so that she could push harder.

Emmeline grimaced.

"Well, I hope that the pushing doesn't go on as long as it did for you, love," she said.

"Yes, I know," she replied, rolling her eyes. "Why you must always bring _that_ up?"

"Well, right now I'm bringing it up because I really do hope that Phoebe doesn't have to go through what your Mum did to bring you into the world," she answered.

"Here's the nourishment for the Mum-to-be," said Tom, handing over a tray with the tea and toast on it. "Now don't spill the tea."

"Oh, I won't!" she said cheerfully and went back upstairs more slowly than she had come down.

"Why don't we make breakfast?" asked Emmeline. "It's not just Phoebe who needs to keep up her nourishment. I don't that too much is going to happen before evening."

"What makes you say that?" he asked curiously.

"I dunno," she said. "Since it's a first baby, she's likely to take longer. But once the labor pains start coming regularly, at least we won't have to keep Phoebe distracted. She'll have more than enough on her mind. And so will the rest of us."

"Do you think that we should let the folks who are up the street know what's going on?" he asked.

"No, not yet," she said. "There's nothing that they can do about it and the children, I correct myself, Prudence, will be driving them crazy once they know."

"I see your point," he replied. "What are you going to cook?"

"I noticed that there are eggs and bacon in the fridge. And there's plenty of bread," she answered. "I think that a hearty breakfast is in order for all of us. We can eat in shifts so that Phoebe isn't left by herself upstairs."

"That makes sense," he said. "I will go up and see about the first shift."

"So you'll be leaving the cooking to me, eh?" she said.

"Considering my own lack of culinary skills," he replied. "It's better that way. But I promise to clean up."

"Whatever you say," she replied, with a shrug.

When he got upstairs, he found Hal, seated in his chair beside the bed, trying to coax Phoebe to have some of the tea and toast. Trelawney was also trying to jolly her along, but unlike yesterday, no amount of silliness from her sister could even make her smile. When he mentioned eating in shifts, Mrs. Clancy immediately took charge.

"All right," she said. "We'll have you, Mrs. Morgan, and Trelawney and Catherine eat first. Then, Tom, Hal, and I will go down."

"Sounds like a good plan," said Hal. "I am presuming that Emmeline is cooking?"

"Lucky for you," he answered. "She is. I am on clean up duty."

"I could help you with that," offered Hal hopefully.

"No, Hal," said Phoebe. "I want you back here as soon as you're done."

"Whatever you say, darling" he replied softly, kissing her head.

"Now, Tom," ordered Mrs. Clancy. "You stay here with us. We need all the moral support that we can get right now."

Phoebe gave another groan from the bed. He and Mrs. Clancy looked at her, but Hal brushed back her hair and kissed her forehead, as if she were a child. Tom was impressed by how gentle he was. It was something that he had learned while tending to Helen through the last weeks of her illness. That had been a terrible time for all of them. Her pain had been constant and there had been no relief from it. This was very different.

Phoebe was as comfortable as she could be in her own bedroom, without all kinds of needles and tubes stuck in her. There was respite from the pain in between these early contractions, which were nowhere near as painful as they would eventually become. She knew that. He gave her a lot of credit for going through with the home birth anyway. Hal also seemed to have finally made peace with her choice.

Eventually, Hal was able to convince her to eat and drink a little. If he hadn't, no doubt that Mrs. Clancy would have taken over. Considering the woman's ability to get what she wanted, no doubt it would have been much more difficult for poor Phoebe. Tom took a seat on the other side of the bed. He was remembering the births of his own two children.

Helen had been surprisingly easy, considering that she was a first child. He had stayed with Bernice until it looked like the birth was imminent. Then, like any good father back in those days, he went out into the waiting room to pace. At the time he had known that it was cowardly, but he had a very good idea of how Hal was feeling now.

However, he also knew the pain of losing a child before he could be born. Another one of their family secrets was that Bernice had had two miscarriages between Helen and Stephen. He had been their own wonder child. Similar to the Figalillys experience with Trelawney everyone had thought that Bernice was too old.

He considered what Meg Figalilly had said about the girl. God doesn't make mistakes. He had always felt the same way about Stephen. They had been blessed to have him with them for six years, because they had been such happy years. Helen had adored him the same way that Phoebe adored Trelawney. And like Phoebe, she had been very protective of him. It had broken her heart when they lost him. There was one great regret that he still had about that.

When Helen had found out that Stephen was sick, she was away at college. She had begged him to send her a train ticket so that she could come home to be with him. But he was still refusing to acknowledge how sick he actually was. He had always felt guilty that he denied her the request that would have given her that last day with her brother. It had been a late night call to her dorm mother who then had the sad duty of informing her that she had lost her little brother. But there had never been a word of reproach from his daughter.

He had had to go up to her college to bring her home. She was in no condition to travel alone. It was at that time that Bernice had begun to cling to her. It was no surprise to him that she had never told Hal. She never spoke of him again. Then the sound of Trelawney's laughter broke into his thoughts.

"Your turn, gentlemen," she said. "Em and I are here to take over."

He once again saw the similarity between her and Stephen. She was too excited about the baby coming to realize the seriousness of the upcoming event. She was completely focused on the joyous moment after the labor pains, the contractions, and the pushing were done. It was obvious that she was unable to absorb all the details of what was coming. But perhaps that was good. She would be there to remind them all, of the happy outcome.

Mrs. Morgan, the gentle nurse, then entered and insisted that Mrs. Clancy go downstairs and eat, rather than having a plate sent up.

"You want to keep up your strength, dear," she said sweetly. "We have a long ways to go and you'll need all of your energy to stay in control of things."

Mrs. Clancy gave her a dark look, but went downstairs anyway. Tom followed and was greeted by Emmeline who was on her way up.

"I've left you a nice mess to clean up," she said cheerfully. "That'll teach you to leave all the cooking to me."

He laughed to himself. He really had not been kidding when he said that no one would be impressed with his cooking skills. It was why he was so good at cleaning up. Bernice wouldn't even let him boil water.

**Another Airport Run**

Rob was starting to feel like a taxi service. He was out of the house with Butch before Bernice and Prudence were even up. LAX was not exactly around the corner and he didn't even know what William Figalilly looked like. He was not even sure of what he thought about him. Anyone who could stick to a man that he hated for a whole year in order to guard his cousins must be a rather tenacious character.

But he was impressed once again by the devotion of the Figalillys to Phoebe and Trelawney. There were the aunt and the uncle, the six cousins and then the Aunts Agatha and Justine. He knew that there were many more, but he had a hard enough time keeping David's children straight. He hadn't gotten to meet the two aunties yet, but he knew that he would. From what he had heard of them, they were very likely to want to see Meg and Owen's first grandchild as soon as they heard that she was here.

The flight landed exactly on time, but of course he had to go through customs. As he and Butch were sitting in the waiting area, his grandson let out yell.

"Look, Grampie!" he said. "It's Cousin Sylvia."

And sure enough, Sylvia Figalilly was walking towards them with a young man who looked exactly as Emmeline had described him. He was similar to Lewis but had the looks of an outdoorsman. You probably couldn't catch this man dead in a pinstripe suit. They stood up as they approached and, as usual, Sylvia's manners were impeccable. The young man looked a bit surly. He wondered what his problem was.

"Hello, Rob! Hello, Butch!" she cheerfully greeted them. "May I introduce you to my brother William."

"Liam is good by me," he added. "I'm pleased to meet you, Mr. Everett and Butch, is it?"

"Yes, sir, " said Butch politely.

"Now don't be giving me any of this 'sir' business," he said. "And don't even think about calling me Mr. Figalilly. That's my Dad."

Butch looked confused. "Yes sir, I mean Liam, I mean sir Liam."

"Look at the lad," commented Liam, a bit cranky. "Making me a bloody peer, he is."

"That will be enough," said Sylvia sternly. "I am afraid that Liam had a bad flight."

"It was a perfectly fine flight until she showed up," he grumbled.

"I'm sorry," said Rob trying to change the subject as quickly as possible. "But if I call you Liam than I will insist that you call me Rob."

Liam took his measure and relaxed a bit. Rob was able to see why Emmeline was so concerned about his temper. Whatever his purpose in being there, it was obvious that Sylvia was there to help keep him in line. He was very grateful.

As they walked out the car, Liam said, "So Phoebe's in labor then, is she?"

"As of last night, it was more like pre-labor," answered Rob. "We can call as soon as we get home."

Then Sylvia said, "Rob, why are you driving Hal's car?"

"Well, mine is still in the shop," he explained. "I had a bit of an accident a few weeks ago."

"And it's still in the shop?" she asked.

"It wasn't a little bit of an accident," said Butch. "We were driving back from a baseball game and had to drive through brush fires and a huge thunderstorm. Then we went off the road and down into a ditch. Topher came and saved us. I got to climb up in a rope and harness. It was cool!"

"Topher," said Sylvia. "Now he is one of Trelawney's gallant knights, isn't he?"

Butch rolled his eyes. "Yeah, him and Mike and Dad of course."

"It sounds as if you don't think much of the little one's gallant knights then, don't you?" said Liam. "I'm guessing that you're not one of them. So who are you then?"

Butch scowled. "The younger fool, but Hal's the elder fool."

Not wanting that line of conversation to progress any farther, Rob interrupted.

"Well, it's always a pleasure to see you, Sylvia," he said. "Now I know that Liam was coming from Australia. How did you both end up on the same flight?"

"How did we indeed?" mumbled Liam. Rob could see that he was not pleased to be in his sister's company.

"We both had the same connection to California in Singapore," she said smoothly. "Quite a coincidence."

"Quite a coincidence," echoed Liam sarcastically. He was definitely out of sorts.

But Butch being Butch, suddenly, at this most inopportune time, began to fit some of the pieces together.

"Hey! Wait a minute!" he said. "Aren't you the one that's supposed be guarding the big jerk?"

"The big jerk?" asked Sylvia.

"Yeah, we don't say his name around Trelawney," he replied. "It makes her upset. She thinks that he's dead or something."

"What makes her think that?" asked Liam.

Before Rob could think of something to interrupt him with, Butch answered.

"Dad smashed the unicorn charm to smithereens," answered Butch. "So now Trelawney thinks he's dead."

"Young man, have you been listening in on adult conversations again?" asked Rob.

"Not me!" he said defensively. "Prudence was. Prudence said that . . ."

"Now we have a ten-year-old boy, quoting the most notorious tattle-telling seven-year-old girl in the Western Hemisphere, who picked up her information by eavesdropping," said Rob sternly. "And how many times has she gotten her stories wrong?"

"Just about . . . okay, Grampie, I see what you mean," he said somewhat remorsefully.

Sylvia looked at Rob with concern. Rob was beginning to feel sorry that he had had to take Butch along. But if he let him go with Bernice, there would have been no end to the squabbles between him and Prudence. As of late, Prudence had become very possessive of her Nana. At any other time, this would not be a bad thing. But right now it was complicating matters.

The conversation was becoming very difficult. He was afraid to ask Liam about his travels because he had no doubt that there would be more grumbling and growling. He had no idea of what he could ask Sylvia. Although they did need to talk, he didn't dare do it while Butch was around. He turned over some possibilities in his mind and then decided to keep quiet. He would call up Lois when they got home. Maybe Butch could spend the day with Tim.

He was starting to envy the cohort down at Hal's house. They had no idea of the difficulties outside. It was going to be his job to keep everyone happy out here so that no one would try and contact anyone in there. Since Butch had spilled the beans about the children knowing that Liam was the guardian of the unicorn (aka "the big jerk"), he was for the moment, quiet. The tone of Butch's voice must have indicated to him that it would upset Phoebe and Trelawney to know that he was here and not with Cholmondeley.

Liam didn't say too much during the rest of the drive back. He seemed to be brooding. Sylvia kept up a lively chatter by asking Butch all about his about his travel baseball team and how they were doing. Fortunately, she herself had been to enough baseball games that spring to ask the kind of intelligent questions that encouraged Butch to give long answers. Rob suspected that she was trying to distract Butch from his observation about Liam.

Fat chance, thought Rob. But after considering all of his options, he thought that it was still best if he went over to Lois's house, perhaps even for a sleepover. He'd drive them all crazy back at his house. And who knew what kind of trouble he would start up with Prudence if she realized who Liam was. Of course Prudence had an, albeit faulty, memory like an elephant. He wished that he had a way of contacting Bernice to tell her to keep Prudence out as late as possible.

When he finally got them all back to the house, Sylvia brought Liam up to "Butch's" bedroom. She would be able to bunk with Bernice for the time being. Prudence was in Trelawney's room. He decided that Butch could sleep in the living room if Lois couldn't take him. When Pastor Jason had told him that the baby wouldn't be born in the next twenty-four hours, he figured that they could be looking at something closer to midnight.

He got Lois on the phone and after he explained a bit of what was going on and the necessity of keeping him away from the Figalillys, she quickly agreed. She knew that Tim and Butch were good friends who only rarely got to see each other.

And since just about the whole town knew what was going on, it would be easy enough to tell Tim and Mike that they needed to get Butch out of the house to help him pass the time while his mother was in labor. Since it could be a late night, a sleepover would keep him distracted. She had no doubt that Tim would be happy and Mike wouldn't care. She would come over right away.

Thank goodness, thought Rob, when Lois finally pulled out of the driveway with Butch. Now I only have to worry about Liam, but at least I have Sylvia here to back me up. He returned to the house.

"Well, that's relief," said Sylvia echoing his own thoughts. "Now we just have Liam to worry about."

"Where is he?" asked Rob, looking around.

"He's sulking upstairs, I believe," she said.

"Good," replied Rob. "I'll call down to the house to see if everything is all right."

"Aren't you afraid of who will answer the phone?" she asked.

"Not really," he said. "We both know Emmeline and you can be sure that she's standing by the phone to intercept any unwanted calls. She'll know that it's me before she picks up. I am sure that she will be very happy to know that you are here."

"I'm sure she will," replied Sylvia.

What a mess, thought Rob, remembering the premonitions. Now we have two pairs of sisters. This also complicates the cousin issue, but if the two sisters are Emmeline and Sylvia, that would only leave Cousin John as the troublemaker, unless there was some other cousin out there that they didn't know about.

He was still wondering about the battle of darkness and the light, not to mention the innocent third party. It just seemed too simple that it was the baby. They had discovered that these premonitions tended to be more convoluted than simple. As soon as Liam is finished brooding then I will tell them both about the prophecy. But I don't think that either of them will be able to make head nor tail out of it either.

**Mid-Day**

Emmeline picked up the phone on the first ring. She knew that it was Rob and she needed to know what was happening up at their house and if Liam was there safely.

"So what's up?" she said, purposely keeping her remarks brief in case someone was listening in. She knew that Tom was nearby.

"Liam is here and so is Sylvia," he replied.

Emmeline breathed a sigh of relief. At least now she had someone who could keep Liam in line. If Syl was there, then she could concentrate on Phoebe.

"Thank goodness," she said. "That will simplify things for you."

"Anything happening down there?" he asked.

"Well, we were all up around eight this morning," she said. "The contractions are more painful, but she's still not dilated much. Hal hasn't left her side since he had a bit of breakfast. Catherine and Trelawney have also been in the room. Oh, by the way, we forgot to pack Trelawney's doll yesterday and she was crying for it last night. Any chance you could get it down here?"

"Of course," he said. "Is there anything else that you need?"

"No," she said. "I think that we're good for now."

"What has Tom been up to?" he asked curiously.

"Well, he and I have decided not to crowd the bedroom," she replied. "I'm afraid that we've just been hanging out downstairs. But we'll go upstairs when we're needed. Fortunately there is lots of reading material around."

"Yes," he said. "That does make sense. Well, assure Hal and Phoebe that Butch and Prudence are happy. I'll bring down the doll for Trelawney."

Emmeline returned to the bedroom.

"That was Rob," she said cheerily. "I've caught him up on the news. Everything is going well with Butch and Prudence. And Trelawney love, he's going to bring Tessa down for you."

"Thank you, Em," she said quietly.

Emmeline looked at Catherine, who then followed her out of the room.

"What's wrong with the little one?" she asked.

"I don't know," said Catherine. "While you were speaking on the telephone, she suddenly seemed to close up on us."

Damn, thought Emmeline. I have a feeling that she has realized that Liam is here. It really is amazing how sensitive she's becoming to everything around her. It was one thing to know who was calling or speaking on the other end of the line. It was another to actually know what was being said, especially if someone was taking the call in another room.

"Mama Kate!" called the child from the bedroom. "Could you please stay with me?"

"Stay close to her, Catherine," said Emmeline. "Something must be up that has her frightened. I only hope that Phoebe doesn't realize it."

"Phoebe's not realizing much of anything right now other than some painful contractions," said Catherine. "I think that she is finally beginning to comprehend what she got herself into."

"Is there still time to take her to hospital?" asked Emmeline.

"I'm sure that there is, but I know without asking that she won't budge," replied Catherine. "She told Mrs. Morgan last night that she felt safer here than in a hospital, and that's what really matters now. But if she knows anything else, she isn't saying."

They heard a knock at the door.

"That will be Rob with the doll," said Emmeline.

"Mama Kate, please come!" called Trelawney's voice again. Emmeline knew that she was frightened of something or she wouldn't be begging for Catherine so insistently.

"I'm coming dear," responded Catheine.

Emmeline went downstairs to meet Rob at the door. Then they stepped outside so that they would not be overheard.

"Here's the doll," he said. "How is everything going?"

"It was going a lot better before your phone call," she said worriedly as she took the doll. "Trelawney knows something about our conversation and it has frightened her."

"That's not good," said Rob. "Is there anything that we can do?"

"There is nothing that we can do that wouldn't scare poor Phoebe," she replied. "And she has enough to worry about without this."

"All right," he said. "If you can hold the fort down here, I am going to try and deal with things up the street the best that I can."

Emmeline closed the door and went upstairs to find Trelawney sitting on the bed with Catherine on a chair next to her. When she saw the doll, she looked a bit happier.

"It's Tessa," she said in a subdued voice as she took her into her arms. "Thank you, Emmeline for getting her for me."

Once Emmeline handed her the doll and she curled up with it cradled in her arms. She had not seen the child cling to the toy since the journey from England to America. She huddled more closely against Catherine, who began to stroke her hair. Catherine looked helplessly at her, but Emmeline couldn't tell her anything. As long as Catherine was able to comfort her so that Phoebe didn't realize what was going on, the child could stay.

Now Mrs. Morgan pulled her into the hallway.

"What is the matter with that child?" she asked, her voice full of concern. "One minute she's happy and the next minute, it was as if a dark cloud had crossed over the sun. I thought that she would cry if Catherine didn't come in. Now you've given her the doll, but she doesn't seem any better. Isn't that the doll that she was crying for last night?"

Emmeline thought for a minute. Mrs. Morgan was very kind, and as a nurse no doubt very discreet. She decided to tell her enough to help with Trelawney without giving too much up information.

"Trelawney can have rapid mood shifts. This has always been true of her, but it has grown worse since her parents died," she said carefully. "It is not easy to tell, but she is very much comforted by the doll. She clung to it like that all the way from England to here. I have no doubt that a good deal of her anxiety is coming from seeing her sister in pain. She was traumatized by the deaths of her parents. I am afraid that this may be bringing back some of those memories."

"I would say that that is a very good possibility," replied Mrs. Morgan knowingly. "Traumatic experiences can cause 'flashbacks.' After World War I they called it shell shock. Knowing this explains a lot. You know she doesn't have to be here, maybe it would be better if she were up the street with Mr. Everett."

"No," Emmeline shook her head. "For reasons that I cannot go into now, she must stay with Catherine. And Catherine must stay with Phoebe. Having the doll will sooth her, you'll see. But if we try to take her out now, the fuss that she will make will certainly upset Phoebe."

"This is not going to be the easy delivery that I thought it would be," commented Mrs. Morgan.

"It will be easier if you focus on Phoebe and leave Trelawney to us," she said crisply. "You cannot possibly know enough about her to settle her down as we can."

They heard another groan from Phoebe.

"How long do you think that this will go on?" she asked, gesturing towards the room.

"'This,' as you call it, could go on all afternoon," she said. "She can't start pushing until she is fully dilated and her water breaks. But there is no way to tell how long the pushing will go on. That is when the contractions will really get bad."

"Don't I know it," replied Emmeline. "I was there when Trelawney was born. It was a very hard birth. The midwife even called in the doctor. And that was very unusual."

"Well," she answered. "You won't get a doctor to come here in the States. No one would want to take the responsibility. If anything happens at that point, we couldn't even safely take her to the hospital by ambulance."

Emmeline nodded. She had figured that it would be something like that. But Phoebe was much younger than Auntie Meg had been. Most of those in the village at the time had said that no woman in her forties had any business having a child. But that child had been Trelawney. And Trelawney was a child of light. Auntie Meg had known exactly what she was doing. And proof of that might be frightened by what was happening in the larger world, but she was precisely where she needed to be now.

She knew that she needed to clear her mind of all thoughts of Liam and Cholmondeley. That might help Trelawney to avoid thinking of him as well. The greater trauma that she couldn't even begin to tell the nurse was that she now knew the unicorn was alive and that nobody knew where he was. She wondered if she sensed his presence, but she didn't dare ask her.

She returned to the bedroom and noticed that she was still curled up against Catherine, but talking softly to the doll as if no one else was there. This wouldn't do either, but she didn't have the heart to prevent her from deriving what little comfort she could from Tessa. She managed to catch her eye to let her know that she must not allow the others to know that Tessa was answering her. She looked back and blinked.

Emmeline breathed a sigh of relief. No one would think that it was odd that a child such as her would talk to her doll. And Tessa was a comfort. She had been the little girl's confidante since Phoebe had brought her back as a gift from a job that she had had in Scotland. As with every gift that Phoebe had ever given her, it held special significance. She noticed that Phoebe was looking over at the child and the doll. For a moment she forgot about her own pain.

"Take care of her, Tessa," she said quietly. "Take care of my little lamb."

Emmeline knew that the doll assured her that she would. Phoebe settled back and for a while seemed to be at peace. It was lucky that she still did not have the ability to know what was going on in Trelawney's mind. Mrs. Morgan looked at her and then over at Phoebe, but all she could do was shrug. Kindly as the woman was, there were just some things that could not be explained to outsiders.

_To be continued . . ._


	2. Chapter 2

**Mike's Move**

When Lois picked up Butch from Rob's house, she was actually quite grateful. Tim had been driving her crazy because of his boredom since his Cub Scout camp had been over a week ago. Now he was excited to have another boy over to play with. So she packed up Tim in the car, along with Mike, who for some unknown reason wanted to go when her heard that they were going to Everetts, and set off. Once they picked up Butch, two of them caught up on all of their latest news as they drove home. She asked Butch how his Mom was doing.

"Oh, she's in labor," he said, as casually as if she had gone out shopping. "Last night Grammy told Grampie that nothing was going to happen until probably today, but I don't know what's happening now."

"Why not?" Tim asked.

"Well, we had to go to the airport real early to pick up Mom's Cousin Liam. He flew in all the way from Australia!" he answered. "Hey! Do you remember Cousin Sylvia? He's her brother and she was on the flight too. From Singa something."

"Singapore?" asked Mike.

"Yeah. That's it," said Butch. "Singapore"

"So then a lot of your Mom's cousins are here," commented Lois.

"Well, if you count three as a lot," replied Butch sanguinely. "But Cousin Liam was in a really bad mood about something. He was kinda mad with Sylvia. I just hope that the big jerk doesn't show up."

"Who's the big jerk?" asked Mike.

"Oh, that's our name for the guy that Trelawney calls the unicorn," he explained. "She gets real upset whenever we talk about him. First Dad told us to call him Mom's ex-fiancé, but we didn't like that. I don't think that she did either. I thought up calling him the big jerk. Dad liked it better too. You see, Cousin Liam has been following him around for the past year, ever since they found out that he hurt Trelawney or something. Maybe that's why Cousin Liam is so crabby. If he's not with him anymore, then who knows where he is?"

"Who indeed?" said Mike thoughtfully.

Lois didn't exactly like the tone of his voice. She knew that he was very protective of Trelawney. She had seen it for herself yesterday when they had prevented Mrs. Fowler from taking her to the Princess. As soon as they arrived home, he was on the phone with someone. When he got off, he said that he was going out.

"Where to?" she asked casually, hoping that his sudden plans weren't what she thought they were.

"Oh, I have to meet with Topher about something," he replied. "He'll be here to pick me up in a minute."

"I didn't know that you and Topher were friends," she said suspiciously.

"Well," he said. "We're not close friends, but we have a project that we're working on together."

"What kind of project?" she asked warily.

"Oh, nothing much," he said casually. "I should be home later."

"Son," she said. "Does this project have anything to do with Trelawney and the quote unquote 'big jerk'?"

"What makes you say that?" he asked in a voice that was just a little too innocent.

It was the first time that she was sorry that her son was such a good actor. It also made him a pretty good liar as well. But he should know better than to try and fool her.

"I can only think of one thing that you and Topher have in common," she said. "And that's that you are both very protective of Trelawney. Janet Tucker told me that she was concerned because Topher was mixing himself up in the Everett's private business."

"What is she concerned about?" he said. "From what I hear, the last time that Topher mixed himself up in their business, he saved Mr. Everett, the Professor, and Butch, remember? Sounds to me like he is just trying to be helpful to a family that needs his help. And it's not like you haven't gotten involved in helping them. What do you think that we were doing yesterday?"

Lois was silent. She didn't like the tone of his voice, which was bordering on fresh, but he was right about that. And of course she knew about the rescue. But that was not exactly the same thing as this. As far as she could see, no one needed rescuing. Trelawney was obviously now safe at her sister's house. Something was up that she didn't know about and she was starting to have some concerns of her own. And she didn't want her son to get mixed up in it.

"I will ask you again, does this have anything to do with the big jerk?" she replied patiently.

"Now why would you say that?" he asked in return.

"I don't know," she said, now getting very annoyed. "But you seemed very interested in what Butch had to say about him. What do you know about the unicorn?"

Her son shifted uncomfortably between his two feet. Success, she thought. Now maybe I'll get some answers.

"When we were practicing for "The Glass Menagerie," he explained. "Francine got kind of weirded out when we got to the part about the unicorn. But Trelawney told her not to worry, because "the unicorn" was dead. I asked Francine about it, but she said that it was a secret between the two of them that she had promised not to tell. Now Butch just said that Trelawney was talking about a dead unicorn that had hurt her. I have a feeling that it's the same one."

Oh, great, thought Lois. Now we have an even bigger mess on our hands than we thought that we did. And I really don't want my son in the middle of it. Since this cousin who Butch said had been guarding him, had shown up, it was obvious that whoever this unicorn was, he was potentially around to cause problems, possibly big problems.

And whatever he had done to Trelawney must be pretty serious if the cousin was so determined to guard him that he would travel half way around the world to . . . Lois was no dummy. This could only mean one thing. The unicorn had no doubt violated her. It would certainly be in his own best interest to harm her in a way that she preferred not to think about.

She also knew that he wasn't telling her anything that that the Everetts didn't know and weren't already on the watch for. She didn't see any point in her son going out to play hero.

"Mike," she said. "I really think that you and Topher need to stay out of this. Aside from the fact that you don't even know who this "unicorn" is, there are a lot of other gaps in the story. I think that this is something that you need to leave to the Everetts and the Figalillys to take care of."

"Look, Mom," he said. "They're probably all concerned about Mrs. Everett and the baby right now. Somebody needs to be on the look out for this guy."

"And do you even know what 'this guy' looks like?" she asked practically.

Mike looked uncomfortable again.

"We'll figure it out," he said. "Don't worry Mom, we know what we're doing."

Like hell you do, she thought. But before they could continue their conversation, there was the sound of a car horn outside.

"Sorry, Mom," he said quickly. "But that's Topher. See you later and don't worry about me."

He gave her a kiss on the cheek as he ran out the door. Yeah right, son, she thought, don't worry about you. She considered calling Janet Tucker but then realized that she probably knew as little as she did. There was no need for both of them to worry. She wondered if there had been any new messages from the Princess, but doubted that anyone had been to see her on a Sunday morning.

She decided against calling Rob. After all, how much more could he know other than what Butch had told them? Butch hadn't been completely sure of the story himself. And the Everetts tended to be very private about these things. Really, all that she could do was hope that Mike and Topher didn't get themselves into any trouble. There was no need to have Rob worrying about the boys on top of everything else he had to concern himself with. She got the impression from Butch that Cousin Liam was quite a handful all by himself.

**Decisive Action**

When Topher picked up Mike, he could tell that something big was up. He had called and told him that he had news about Trelawney and it wasn't good. And he insisted on seeing him in person rather than tell him over the phone. Once in the car they decided to go back to the diner. It was lunchtime anyway.

"Okay, so what's up?" he asked after they had ordered burgers and fries.

"Butch is hanging out at my house today because he was driving them nuts at home, you know, waiting for the baby to come," Mike replied. "Since Tim has been driving Mom crazy, she was only too happy to take him. In fact, he's even going to sleep over tonight. But this is the good part. He was yacking away almost as much as Prudence."

"Are you sure he's reliable?" asked Topher, who knew that Prudence wasn't always the most reliable source of information.

"What he said wasn't too complicated," said Mike. "Two more of Phoebe's cousins have shown up, Sylvia and this guy Liam. They flew all the way in from Singapore. Mr. Everett and Butch went out to the airport to pick them up this morning. Apparently for the past year, Cousin Liam has been keeping an eye on someone Butch called 'the big jerk.' But now he lost him. It sounds to me like that's why he's here. Turns out that this is the Everett kids' name for the 'unicorn.' That's Trelawney's name for some guy that Butch said hurt her somehow. Do you know anything about that?"

"No," he said as he searched his memory. "But last summer Mrs. Everett was real worried that the television reporter would put Trelawney on TV and some guy would find her. She was real scared about that. Remember? But she never called him by any name, and neither did Trelawney come to think of it. That's when we started to be her 'gallant knights.'"

"Oh, yeah," said Mike. "I forgot about that. That was why old Jim had that plan for getting her in the house before the reporter could bother her. But even when she was safe Mrs. Everett freaked out."

"So what do you know about the unicorn?" asked Topher.

"I'm not sure," he admitted. "But when we did the play, Francine was kind of freaked out by the glass unicorn in the last scene. The one that got broken. She and Trelawney did a lot of whispering about him. Finally, Trelawney said that he was dead. But I guess not."

"I wonder what Sarah knows about this guy?" said Topher, thinking out loud. "Those three know everything about each other."

"Is there a way to ask her?" said Mike.

"She's at home," replied Topher. "But my Mom will totally bug out if I start asking her anything about Trelawney. She's still mad at me for going out after the Everetts a month ago."

"Sounds like my Mom," answered Mike. "She really didn't want me to leave the house. You showed up just in time."

"What could she have done?" he asked. "Locked you in your room?"

"I wouldn't put it past her," replied Mike. "She's been really bent out of shape over my Dad and stuff. She has a real short fuse these days."

"Just out of curiosity, did Butch think that the big jerk was in town?" asked Topher.

"It seemed that way," said Mike. "Man, this is a mess. The Princess is totally whacky, Mrs. Everett is in labor, and now there could be this other guy out there who could hurt Trelawney. He's not another cousin, is he?"

"No," said Topher. "I think that he is Mrs. Everett's ex-fiancé. That's what Jim said last summer anyway, 'betrothed from birth' was what he said. This is getting too weird. We need to find someone who knows more about this stuff than we do."

"Yeah, come to think of it, Butch said something about him being her ex-fiancé too," said Mike. "But that doesn't tell us what he looks like or where he might be."

After their food came, they sat there thinking about everything. Topher was a smart enough guy to know that they were missing too much information to begin to formulate even the beginnings of a hypothesis. It was all too bizarre. But it also all seemed to be related to Trelawney. She was the common denominator in everything. While they were sitting there, a couple of women came in and sat behind them.

"Have you heard about the Princess's latest premonition?" asked one of them. "The one that she had this morning?"

"No, please do tell," said the other.

It was obvious that they were a couple of old gossips, but Topher would take anything that he could get at this point. And these old bags seemed to always get the prophecies right. Like a research study with a double blind that was working out perfectly, they were very consistent.

That, in and of itself, was very weird, because most of the time rumors took on a life of their own and became more unreliable with every telling. That had never happened in the case of the Princess's premonitions. He had a feeling that this was important, but he couldn't figure out how yet.

"Well, Maude," said the one. "She says that the bright lights falling from the sky bring danger to all who stand and wait. _And _they are falling tonight. Also, it's not just the two sisters who are in danger from the cousin, but the innocent third party. And of course, the darkness will defeat the light."

"Oh my!" exclaimed Maude. "This is getting very exciting. It seems that every time she speaks of this, she refines her premonitions even more."

Topher gestured to Mike and they both stayed silent. Fortunately, the diner was quiet and the ladies were speaking very loudly. They could listen without appearing to eavesdrop.

"Oh, and I forgot the most important part," said her friend. "You know how Mrs. Everett is in labor right now. So there are lots of people standing and waiting. In fact, one of the Princess's nephews showed up out of nowhere. He must be one of Mrs. Everett's cousins! That was when the Princess told everyone to leave. She said that they had family business to discuss. I wonder what will happen next?"

"Another cousin?" mouthed Mike to Topher.

"I can't imagine," replied Maude. "Since we haven't heard that Mrs. Everett has had her baby yet, I'm sure that it will be born today."

"Well, I certainly wouldn't want to wish three days of labor on anyone," said her friend.

"Neither would I," agreed Maude. "You know my sister was in labor for 48 hours. She couldn't wait to get that baby out."

After a few more minutes of listening in, they realized that the topic had changed to childbirth. In fact, the discussion was enough to make a guy lose his appetite. Not wanting to take any chances of someone overhearing their own conversation, they decided to go out to the van.

"Okay," said Topher. "Now we have the latest update from the Princess. Do you think that the Everetts know about it?"

"Probably not," said Mike. "If my Mom didn't know then it's too soon for it to have hit the usual gossip circuit. Besides, do you really think that they'll be paying attention?"

"After my experience last month, I think that they should," he replied. "Especially since those two made the observation that the premonitions are becoming more pointed. The only thing is that if Mrs. Everett is in labor then the rest of the family probably couldn't care less about the Princess right now."

"Yeah," said Mike. "But how do we let them know? I bet that they don't even know that this other cousin is in town. That makes four cousins. I mean, we can't just walk up to the house and tell them, can we?"

"Why not?" asked Topher. "I mean we wouldn't go to the Professor's house, but I don't see why Mr. Everett's house would be off limits."

Mike was silent. Topher waited while he seemed to be sorting out his thoughts.

"You know," he said slowly. "If I remember correctly, Emmeline and Sylvia are sisters. And Butch said that Liam is their brother. Since Emmeline and Sylvia think that the Princess is a crackpot, I bet that he does to. This 'nephew' can't be him. Besides, Liam was probably driving in from the airport at that time."

"Pretty good analysis for an artsy type," he commented.

It occurred to him that if the two cousins had come in so quickly, then something was definitely up. And if they had to be picked up the airport this morning, then they had flown in from Singapore pretty quickly after they heard that Mrs. Everett was in labor. And now there was a third cousin who was the Princess's nephew. Since Mrs. Everett was her niece, he couldn't possibly be the big jerk. But he had this feeling that any cousin would hang out with the Princess was probably as loony as she was. Sarah had said that Trelawney had a big family, but this was ridiculous!

"Just because I'm not a scientist doesn't mean that I can't analyze things," answered Mike, interrupting his thoughts. "In fact in the study of literature we look for patterns and symbolism. I keep looking for the pattern in this whole mess, but it's really hard to find one."

Now it was Topher's turn to be silent. Mike waited patiently for him.

"Hey, Mike!" he said. "Do you think that this guy Liam has suddenly shown up to keep protecting Trelawney or something? Do you think that he has been following the guy because he's dangerous? If he lost track of the unicorn then the next logical place for him to go is here."

"That makes sense. It was what Butch seemed to be implying anyway," said Mike. "Do you think that he could use some help?"

"Well, he sure doesn't know his way around town," he said. "And I bet he doesn't have the latest lowdown from the Princess. Maybe we should see if we could find him."

"From what Butch said, it sounded like he was staying with Mr. Everett," said Mike. "If we're going there anyway, maybe we can get him to join up with us."

"And maybe," said Topher. "He can help us to figure out some of stuff in the Princess's premonitions."

"Okay, man," said Mike. "Let's do it!"

Topher felt better when he started up the van, he felt like they were finally getting somewhere. Now all they had to do was convince Liam that they could help him protect Trelawney and maybe even Mrs. Everett.

**Frustration**

Now that Liam was in town, he was very frustrated by his own lack of ability to do anything. He could now see why Trelawney called Butch the younger fool. The kid liked to repeat gossip that he picked up from his kid sister. He had a feeling that word could get out that he was here because of his big mouth. That would make it even harder for him to track down Cholmondeley and Johnny. The last thing that he needed was for them to get tipped off as to his whereabouts. It would send them even further underground, making it that much harder to find them.

It didn't help that Sylvia knew what he was about. But the problem with her was that she didn't know anything either. For an outsider, Rob was doing a pretty fair job of hiding his thoughts. Leave it to Emmeline to teach him a few tricks. Admittedly however, it was a useful tool if he ran into any undesirables, so to speak.

Rob had gone down to the house with the little one's doll. Poor girl, he thought, she had hung on to her dolly throughout the whole ordeal back at the village after Auntie and Uncle died. He shook his head that they would have forgotten it when they were packing her up. Emmeline of all people should certainly have known better. When he returned, Liam asked him if anything had changed with Phoebe.

"Well, her labor is progressing slowly," he said. "The midwife and the nurse don't think that anything will happen until this evening at the earliest."

"That's a pity," he replied. "The first one is always the hardest they say. I'm guessing that that's the way it will be for our Phoebe."

"That's the way it looks," he said.

"Rob," he said. "I know that they've all told you not to say anything to me about things. And I know that you don't want me to go down to the house. After what Butch said, it sounds like it's better if the little one don't know that I'm here. So I'll be staying away. But I would like to know what Auntie's been up to. It could be that young Johnny will tangle himself up with her. If he does then I think that there will unintended consequences, so to speak, on both their parts."

"Well, you might as well know," he said with a sigh. "Go get Sylvia so I don't have to tell it twice."

When he came back with Syl, Rob began to tell them about the premonitions.

"Well, Liam," he said. "I'm assuming that you know all about how Aunt Henrietta crosses her wires at times, just as all the other Figalillys seem to. We've had some issues with her premonitions before. She seems to know a little, fills in the blanks with interpretations to suit her purposes, and then watches as the trouble starts."

"Yes, of course," he said. "If she weren't Mum's older sister then we would have broken ties with the crazy old lady years ago. But that's not how things are in the village. Like it or not, she's our Auntie. Even if she is a bit dim."

"Not as dim as you think," he said. "She has most of the folks in town fooled about her ability to predict things. The problem is that when they go to her for advice she's always pretty clear. Then sometimes she will go off into what some of them call her deep trance. That's where we hear about the premonitions regarding the family.

"And when she hits, it only means more customers, including Hal's neighbor Mrs. Fowler. She tells your aunt everything that she knows about Phoebe and the family, mostly because she's the best gossip in town. Aunt Henrietta probably doesn't have to ask her any questions. All she has to do is let her run at the mouth, although there are some in town that have started to figure her out. Pastor Jason is one and Lois Lenihan is another."

Sylvia nodded. "It doesn't surprise me. They're both good people, and sharp too. And Mrs. Fowler, she's the one that brought Auntie over the day of the little one's birthday, isn't it? She's a bit batty herself. What about the lads, Mike and Topher?"

"The two gallant knights?" asked Liam.

"That's what Trelawney calls them," said Rob. "On different occasions, they have both saved Trelawney from difficult circumstances. Topher from that reporter last summer, and yesterday Mike got her out of the theatre before that neighbor, Mrs. Fowler, could take her to Aunt Henrietta. Mrs. Fowler is the big problem because she lives next door, _and _her daughter Francine is Trelawney's good friend. In fact she was her first friend in town. She has helped her in school when she ran into some rough patches."

"Lois a help with keeping the little one safe too?" asked Sylvia.

"Of course," said Rob with a smile. "She attributes Mike's good fortune with the scholarship to you."

"Well," said Liam. "You always was the bloody do-gooder, wasn't you, Syl?"

"Emmeline said the same thing, only she left out the bloody part," said Rob. He looked like he was starting to get irritated by their quibbling.

"Liam, why don't we call a truce for now?" asked Sylvia. "We're all on the same side here. And I didn't just come to keep an eye on you. Em put out the call to everyone to come and help. I just happened to be the only one available, so to speak."

"So to speak, my arse," he said. "Okay, Rob. We'll quit our squabbling so that you can tell us what rubbish Auntie's spewing forth now."

"Thank you," said Rob with a touch of irony in his voice. "The latest information that we have, not to mention half the town has, actually comes from Lois. She picked it up from Mrs. Fowler's friends. Mrs. Fowler was the one who told Aunt Henrietta that Phoebe was in labor."

"So then this premonition comes _after _she discovered that Phoebe was in labor?" asked Sylvia.

"Does that matter?" asked Rob.

Liam looked at Sylvia. Of course it mattered. At this point everything mattered.

"Anyway," she said. "Please tell us what you know."

"The time of the bright lights falling from the sky is now upon us," he said. "There is danger for all who stand and wait. The two sisters are endangered by the cousin. There is danger to an innocent third party at the time of the bright lights. The light cannot defeat the darkness. The darkness will always win."

"Well," said Liam. "Sounds like Auntie's usual muddle, only it's a little more apocalyptic than usual. She makes it sound as if the world is coming to an end or something."

"That's what Emmeline told me," replied Rob. "Now when I just went down to the house, I was so worried about the doll that I forgot to ask Emmeline something. I had a meeting with Pastor Jason last night and we realized something."

"What is that?" asked Sylvia.

"When Aunt Agatha told the story about Cholmondeley and Trelawney to the family, did she mention how she came by her information?"

"This Pastor Jason fellow, trustworthy?" asked Liam.

"Absolutely," replied Sylvia. "He's been keeping the little one safe for about a year now, if you catch my drift."

"Well," said Liam, with a nod. "Let me think. Aunt Justine started the story. She first of all told us that it was a lucky thing that Phoebe didn't marry him. That got Em off the hook for her part in that mess. Then she told us about the crazy behavior of the little one when Aunt Justine tried to talk to her about curbing her impulses, so to speak. She ran away to Francine's and refused to come back. Phoebe was all upset as well. They were threatening to bring her back to the village if she couldn't control herself.

"She and Aunt Agatha couldn't figure it out. There was no reason for it. And Aunt Justine made it clear that the child was purposely muddling her thoughts so they made no sense. Although she was able to get this much out of her, she was afraid that she had somehow betrayed her Phoebe. There was some kind of a secret involved that would hurt Phoebe if she knew about it. That was what Aunt Justine had to say, wasn't it, Syl?

"You have it right, as far as I can recall," agreed Sylvia. "Now I'll tell Auntie Agatha's part. She said that they knew that they couldn't get anything out of Trelawney. She was just too good at hiding her thoughts. Auntie Meg probably taught her to help protect herself from folks who would find out how special she was. Jumbling them up was probably the best she could do with one such as that.

"Then Hal remembered this box that Cholmondeley had given the little one that she refused to open. She asked him to destroy it but he didn't. So he brings it out and Auntie Agatha opens. That's when they see the unicorn. They knew what it meant, but didn't understand it. More likely, they didn't want to. At last, they found out from little Prudence that Trelawney and her friend Francine had secrets. They decided to talk to Francine."

"Yes," said Rob. "We know about all that that so far. That's the same story that Hal told us. Please continue."

"They went to Francine's house and got her out of bed," she said. "They tried to talk to her, but she was determined not to betray her friend. Then they asked her about a unicorn. That was when she started to cry about _the_ unicorn. So Auntie Agatha took her off by herself. The girl still refused to talk, but she was able to discern from her mind what happened."

"So then, did Aunt Agatha tell the family that she got her information from Francine?"

"Yes," said Sylvia. "It was like that wasn't it, Liam?"

"Yeah, that sounds about right," he said. "I got the impression that the little one didn't tattle on him. It was the friend. But that was when it got all crazy and emotional, wasn't it Syl? The end of the story, eh? Except for the part about the Professor smashing the thing to bits, like Butch said. And that was when the Figalilly men were all swearing to kill him if they found him. You women was all weeping and wailing, if I recall."

"But Liam," she said. "I do believe that you were the only one that meant it, the killing part I mean. Even Trelawneys were upset. Cholmondeley will be a sorry man if he returns to the village. We have our own kinds of justice, but they don't involve killing."

"Even if someone deserves it?" asked Liam as if to challenge her.

"Even then," she said sharply. "And you, yourself, know that very well. It would break the little one's heart if you damned your soul forever on her behalf. And you know _that, _too."

"So then what have you been up to for the past year?" Rob asked.

"I've been keeping my eye on him," he said defensively. "Could have made him disappear, so to speak, if it weren't for the womenfolk. You know, if you get yourself off to places like Tanzania and Thailand, then who knows what can happen to you. But look where it's got us now."

"Well Trelawney and Phoebe are both safe where they are," said Rob. "The good king and the good queen are with them. Trelawney's got Catherine, so she should be safe. That's what we've been told. But more than that my son Bob has hired a couple of undercover security guards to watch the house. They have been told to let no one in. In fact when I went over just now I stayed outside."

"Well," said Liam. "You may think that that will work, but don't get too comfortable with it. There's ways it may work, but there's also ways of getting around that."

"Liam's right," Sylvia nodded. "But why are you so worried about how the Aunties told the story?"

"Well," he said. "If Cholmondeley is really looking for revenge, then he might be after Francine as well. I've been told about how he might want to get rid of Trelawney so that he can claim that she's lying. But it sounds as if Francine was actually the one who spilled the beans, so to speak. Even without Trelawney, there would still be Francine to reckon with. Don't sell her short. She is very protective of Trelawney. She had stood up for her on more than one occasion."

"She is at that. Even I can see that," said Liam looking at Sylvia. "The innocent third party, Syl?"

"It's possible," she said. "But there is still the possibility of the baby. She'll be born tonight. It makes the most sense for the bright lights falling from the sky, the meteor showers, you know."

"Yes, we know that as well," said Rob. "But remember that we can't always make complete sense of what she says until after things have happened. We thought that the three lives hanging in the balance were Phoebe, Trelawney, and the baby. But the accident proved that wrong. Then we couldn't figure out the blinding light, but there was a huge thunderbolt that hit near the car before it went off the road. But more to the point, do you think that John Trelawney might go to Aunt Henrietta?"

"They could be working together," said Sylvia. "They both have their own reasons for bringing the child back to the village."

"Don't I know it," said Rob. "And both of them have tried before."

"And they're both stupid enough to think that Cholmondeley wants her to go back to clear his name," said Liam. "Johnny makes a bit of sense thinking that way because Auntie Clara is his mother, she being one of them and all. Auntie Henrietta might detest the little one, but she'd be the only one in the family not to believe her.

"No, she wants to bring her back to get herself in good with Grandfather, probably looking for a bigger share of the pot when he kicks off, greedy old witch. I would hope that she would realize that Cholmondeley wouldn't want her to ever return, if you catch what I'm saying. Syl, when the aunties told the story was Aunt Henrietta there?"

"I believe so," replied Sylvia. "That was when she promised Grandfather to bring her back, but he didn't want to upset the little one and all that at the time. Then when Phoebe eloped, it was her perfect excuse to get herself out here. She volunteered to come and make sure there weren't any premature babies. But that was when the premonitions started that Trelawney had to come home to the village or she could hurt the baby. Never could make any sense out of that one."

"Well ten and a half months is hardly premature. Anyone could see by Christmas that things were on the up and up before the elopement," said Liam. "Could never figure out why she stayed, other than the money that she's been raking in since last year."

"She was still promising Grandfather to bring the little one home," said Sylvia. "Didn't you hear? It was her nonsense, those premonitions and prophecies that led to that daft legal challenge to the will. Lucky for us that Lewis was able to tie up all things neat. Dad and Mum even gave up their own legal rights to raise her. She's to be with Rob and Catherine until she can go back to her Phoebe. Was hard on Phoebe though."

"Emmeline says that Cholmondeley can't let her return because someone there could discern the truth from her thoughts and then the jig would be up," said Rob. "But what about someone discerning his thoughts in the matter?"

"Yes, she's got that right," said Liam. "I can see that happening. As to discerning his thoughts, I tried for a whole year. Couldn't make a dent. He might be a bloody fool, but he's certainly good at that. No, Cholmondeley can't have her going back to the village. She'd be so upset that she wouldn't be able to think about disguising her thoughts. But he's probably using Johnny and Auntie to find her and get her into his own clutches, so to speak. Damn you women, Syl! This all wouldn't be happening if you had let me give him what he deserved months ago."

"Liam," she said. "We'll not argue about this again. It's more important that we figure out what Auntie's up to now and whether Cholmondeley and Johnny are in contact with her."

"For once, sis, you're right. Now you know this town better than I do. How will we go about doing this? Should we go and see Auntie and have it out once and for all?" he asked.

"No," she answered slowly. "I doubt that Cholmondeley is with her. He'd be sure to find out that you're here if she sees you, and who knows what he'd do then."

"So you got nothing else for us?" he said in frustration.

For once Sylvia was quiet. Liam shook his head. Fine time for her to stop playing Miss "Know-it-all." But he knew that he still needed her. He knew that she would be watching him like a hawk until the baby was born. He looked at the clock. The time had passed quicker than he thought it would. It was now four o'clock. He was wondering how poor Phoebe was doing. At least she didn't know about any of this. No doubt she was too miserable to even think about it.

Rob went off to his workroom and Sylvia went upstairs for a lie down. Serves her right if she's tired, he thought, after interfering in my business. Then he heard a knock on the door. Not knowing what else to do, he opened it. Two young men were outside. One was a ginger, neat looking lad, and the other some kind of hippy with a ponytail. Bloody hell, he thought, this is all I need.

"Are you Liam?" asked the ginger.

"I might be," he said cautiously.

"I'm Mike and this is Topher," the kid answered. "We were hoping that you could give us some help."

"Yeah," agreed the hippy. "We think that something big is going down tonight and we need to protect Trelawney. Princess Lotus Flower has been yacking about some more premonitions, and now some cousin has showed up."

Liam was now on the alert. Typical of Auntie, to go by her Princess name here.

"What cousin?" he asked.

"We don't know," said Mike. "But she kicked all of her paying customers out so that they could talk together about some kind of family business. If she did that, then this guy must be important. She probably gave up a small fortune for the afternoon."

Liam groaned, damned if old Johnny hadn't showed up after all. And no doubt about it, Cholmondeley was lurking about nearby as well.

"What do you want me to do about it?" he asked.

"Well," said Mike. "We heard about you from Butch. He said that you were guarding the unicorn until he gave you the slip. But he didn't say anything about another cousin. Now we've been Trelawney's gallant knights for the last year. We were hoping that we could all work together."

"Yeah," said Topher. "And I have wheels, which I'm guessing you don't. And you know what these guys look like and we don't."

"You're right about that," he replied. "Now, look. They're trying to keep me cooped up in this bloody house. But if I get out quick enough, then we'll figure it out together."

"So get in the van," said Topher.

Without thinking or looking back, Liam followed the boys out. He knew the names from what Rob and Butch had told him. And if the little one called them her gallant knights then they could be trusted. The little one was never wrong about her gallant knights. And if Johnny was in town with Cholmondeley, it meant that he could attend to his unfinished business.

When they got out the van, the one named Mike looked at the one named Topher.

Then Topher said, "You ask him."

Mike looked at him and asked, "We know that this unicorn guy hurt Trelawney, but we don't know how. Mrs. Everett was real freaked out about it last summer. She was scared that he might find her again. What was it that he did?"

Liam was silent for a moment. It was a bit startling to hear their Phoebe called "Mrs. Everett," but it did make sense, she'd been married to her Professor for almost a year now. But the other made him angry just to think about it. Then he realized that if he could get these two as fired up as he was, that they could be real useful to him.

"The bloody unicorn, whose name by the way is Cholmondeley Featherstonehaugh, was Phoebe's fiancé. She was betrothed to him at birth. That's the way things can work back in the village. And he was just a kid at the time. They get no choice in the matter," he said. "This fellow seemed to be harmless, a little daft for not marrying our Phoebe when it was time, but she didn't mind. They both had the wander bug, you know?

"Then he comes home for a visit one time, when Phoebe wasn't even there. Well, the long and the short of it is that he violated our little one, if you know what I mean. And she, poor girl, was too young to understand it. She just knew that it was a bad thing."

"Please don't tell me that it's what I think that you're telling me," said Topher, looking real mad.

"Well, I'll tell it the way that she does," replied Liam. "He tells her the legend of the unicorn. He says that the fair maiden tempts the unicorn to lay down his head in her lap. He said that she had tempted him and took him away from her Phoebe. Then he shows her this unicorn charm. Says that it's for the fair maiden. When he comes back for her, he'll give it to her. Like I said, she doesn't understand these things too well. Do you know what the unicorn means?"

"Yes," said Mike getting very angry. "It's a phallic symbol in medieval literature. The belief is that the unicorn is pure, but it is the fair maiden who tempts him. But then the gallant knight can come and kill him."

When he heard that, Topher started to look really mad. Liam knew that he had achieved his goal.

"Now getting back to my story," Liam continued. "So he shows up for Phoebe here after Auntie and Uncle pass and little one goes bonkers. He tries to give her the charm, but the Professor takes it and hides it. That was when she started to call him her gallant knight. But she and young Hal run him off, so that Phoebe can marry the Professor. Good man, her Professor. Swore to kill the bloody bastard if he ever came near one of the girls again. A man after my own heart, you know?

"We only learned the story from Auntie Agatha a few months later. And then there was anger and sorrow among the Figalillys like you've never seen, even the Trelawneys, as well. Poor little one has always been a little fey, you know, simple. I was watching him until Cousin Johnny shows up and they disappear."

The two boys reacted as he hoped. Good, if they're angry enough we can get somewhere with the bloody unicorn and be done with it. He needed to make Trelawney safe once and for all. Of course, there was also the other little girl. If she was Trelawney's best friend, he wouldn't let her heart be broken because they were careless. Poor little one, she never had a best friend back in the village.

"Do either of you lads know the girl named Francine?" he asked. "I believe that she's one of the little one's best friends, that's what they tell me, anyway."

"She is her best friend," said Mike. "Why?"

"She might need some watching too. It was her that let Auntie Agatha know the truth," he said. "We don't want the bloody unicorn to get to her neither."

**The Time Draws Near**

As afternoon drew closer to evening, the labor pains grew more regular. Hal could now see why Phoebe had wanted him there. There wasn't anything that he could to "help with the birthing," but she clearly was counting on him for emotional support. He held her when each contraction came and then wiped her face when she got past it. The room had become very warm and humid, but there was nothing much to do yet. She wasn't fully dilated and her water hadn't broken. Mrs. Clancy clucked whenever she checked but assured them all that nothing was wrong.

"Don't worry," she said. "The next one will be easier."

But Phoebe looked at her doubtfully. Hal was starting to wonder if she would ever let him near her again. Mother sat on the opposite side of the bed with Trelawney. Mrs. Clancy had insisted that she get off the bed, so they had set a chair beside Mother's. Since Emmeline had given her the doll, she had been very quiet, other than when she talked with the doll. She was also clinging to Mother. It was impossible to tell why, but she looked very anxious. At one point Mrs. Morgan quietly suggested that it might be better for her if she went downstairs with Tom and Emmeline. This elicited an immediate and fearful response.

"I must stay with my Mama Kate," she wept. "Please don't take me away from my Mama Kate."

Phoebe heard the upset and began to cry as well.

"Please let her stay," she begged. "She's not a bother. Please don't take my little sister away from me."

Utterly baffled by the strong responses, Mrs. Morgan shushed them both and assured them that Trelawney could stay. She looked at Mother and him, but there was no explaining it. Mother held Trelawney a little tighter. It was impossible to explain to Mrs. Morgan that whatever was bothering the girl. It had nothing to do with the painful labor.

Emmeline made sandwiches for a light dinner, but Trelawney still refused to be pried from her sister's side. However, she did agree to eat. He and Mother also ate there. He was beginning to envy Tom and Emmeline who did not have to be present yet, however he had to agree that it would have made the bedroom more crowded. The food seemed to settle Trelawney a bit.

And he really did not want to leave his wife's side anyway. Somehow, it didn't seem fair. She was relying on him very much for comfort at this point, and as she had earlier said, he had been only too eager to do his part at the other end of the process. She had been well aware of what was going to happen, but it didn't make it any easier. He couldn't even imagine the pain every time a contraction hit. But they were still not close enough to indicate that the birth was imminent.

However, a new distraction began to occur. He could hear thunder rumbling in the distance. After the first noise he looked up at Mother to be sure that he had heard right. She nodded. He hoped that this was not going to be another big storm. Mrs. Morgan seemed to read their thoughts. She offered to go downstairs to tell Emmeline and Tom to check the television stations to see what they might know.

After several long minutes and a few more rumbles, she returned and whispered something to Mother. She once again nodded. Now the nurse came over to him.

"Apparently there is a heavy thunder and wind storm brewing out there," she whispered. "Emmeline and Tom are finding the flashlights and candles."

He nodded. "Tell them to look in the hall closet," he said. "I have a lantern and a couple of large spotlights from our camping trips."

"Very good," she said quietly. "They may come in handy."

She returned downstairs, but before she left Mrs. Clancy took her aside. When she gave her the news, the midwife grew serious, but did not look worried. Considering the amount of experience that she had, it would not surprise him if she had delivered more than one baby with the power out. Phoebe was oblivious to the noise, but Trelawney huddled even closer to Mother.

When the rain hit, they had to close the windows. Aside from the fact that it was coming down in sheets, the wind was blowing the water in and thunder and lightening were crashing all around. It reminded him of the storm that he and Dad and Butch had driven through last month. He was glad that he was indoors, even if the room was becoming more stifling. Oddly, the storm did not seem to have any effect on Trelawney. Phoebe didn't notice it, but that was understandable.

As usual, he had no idea of what the little girl might be thinking. Because she was quiet, Phoebe was no longer upset. In fact she hardly seemed to be aware of anyone in the room other than himself. But Trelawney's eyes never left her sister. At one point, she stood up, handed Mother her doll, and laid her hand on Phoebe's stomach. She looked directly into her sister's eyes and smiled.

"She is looking forward to meeting you," she said softly. "She is sorry that she is being such a bother."

She brushed a stray hair back from her sister's forehead. Phoebe smiled back at her.

"I know," she replied quietly.

Mrs. Morgan and Mrs. Clancy looked at each other in amazement. Emmeline, who had come in behind them, looked on in disapproval. But that look rapidly changed. She too seemed stunned. Tom, who had come up with Emmeline, however did not look surprised at all. Like Mother and him, he seemed to take Trelawney's behavior as perfectly normal.

"It won't be long," said Trelawney. "I promise."

She rested her head on Phoebe's shoulder and Phoebe put her arm around her. For a few minutes, she seemed to be at peace. Then Trelawney stood up again and gently kissed her sister. She turned around to the amazed group behind her and spoke.

"I believe that her water will break very soon," she said. "Then it will be time to push."

She turned to Mother, took the doll back in her arms, and sat down beside her again. Mother, of course, could do nothing but hold her. There was no explaining what they had just seen to Mrs. Clancy and Mrs. Morgan. He wished that he knew what Emmeline had just seen, but didn't want to ask her. Emmeline was looking at the girl with a highly unusual (for her) expression on her face. She looked very confused.

Tom came into the bedroom with the lantern and the flashlights. Mrs. Clancy nodded in approval, now returning her focus to her patient. As Trelawney had predicted, her water broke. She checked again and announced that she was fully dilated. It was time to start pushing.

Hal remembered his childbirth classes and prepared to help Phoebe sit up and push down with each contraction and then breathe as it ended. But then they discovered that the contractions were fifteen minutes apart. They still had a long ways to go.

It was now 8:30 and the storm seemed to be directly overhead. They had been so concerned with Phoebe that they hadn't realized that it had moved in that close until the thunder was literally crashing over their heads. Hal could hear the wind blowing the trees outside. It was going to be another wild one, perhaps worse than any before He was glad that they had the supplies. Even though it would normally still be light outside, the storm made it dark as night. Phoebe was so focused on pushing that she was not aware.

When the next contraction came, he helped her through it. She fell back on the pillows, her face glistening with sweat. He wiped it with a cool towel and kissed her forehead. Emmeline moved closer to the bed.

"Don't worry, love," she said. "It will all be over soon."

Phoebe looked up at her and nodded. Hal remembered that they had both been through this together before, when Trelawney was born. Tom had now come into the room to stay. He was standing by ready with the lantern and the flashlights in case the power went off. Hal was very grateful that he was there. He was very calm.

Then they heard a great clap of thunder and the sound of a tree or at least a very large branch cracking and crashing with a large thud outside. The lights flickered and the room went dark.

_To be continued . . ._

_This is the fiftieth story in a continuing saga that began with "Love Makes a Family." The following stories are all referred to in some way. Reading them will help give background._

_Reading the stories "Love Makes (or Breaks) a Family" and "Love Makes a Family Forever" will give background on Cholmondeley and his relationship to the family._

_The story referenced here that describes the visit last summer by Aunts Agatha and Justine is "Unicorns and Balloons."_

_The stories "Love Out Loud" and "Renovation: Rehabilitation" will give further background._

_Finally, as further background to "Sunday's Child," reading the prequel "Trelawney Rose Figalilly" explains the references to the practice of home birth back in the village._

_Please note that the depiction of the character Cholmondeley Featherstonehaugh in this story bears no resemblance to the one in the original series, other than being Nanny's "betrothed from birth." I have taken great liberties with that character for the purpose of my own story._

_I have also done some minor tinkering with the Aunt Henrietta character. In the series, she is portrayed as incompetent, but not malevolent._

_The character of Francine Fowler has been transformed from the original series diction of annoying neighbor girl to heroine of sorts._

_In order to tell the present continuing story with any depth, all of the characters have evolved beyond what they were in the series, especially the children. The development within the story has covered roughly 19 months, a long span of time in the life of a child._

_It will be important to remember these things as the rest of the story plays out._


	3. Chapter 3

**The Disappearance**

When Sylvia returned downstairs after her nap, it was early evening. She had been so tired before she went up, that she had forgotten to remind Rob to keep a close watch on her brother. And now Liam was nowhere to be found. First she was anxious. After looking everywhere on the first and second floors, she went down to Rob's workshop. He wasn't down there either. Then she became furious.

"All right," she said. "Where is the bloody fool now?"

Rob looked up at her in surprise.

"Why, Sylvia," he said mildly. "I've never heard you use language like that before."

"And you've never seen me this angry either," she fumed. "It looks as if my brother has gone and given us the slip now. Unless you know where he is."

"I thought that he was upstairs with you," he answered. "When I'm working done here, I'm not really too aware of what's going on up there. Right now, I am just trying to pass the time until we have word from down the street. You're sure that he's not anywhere in the house?"

"Positive," she said. "Leave it to him to figure out a way to get himself in trouble."

"Why are you so sure that he's getting himself into trouble?"

"Because he's so worked up about protecting the little one, not to mention Phoebe, that he's likely to go off and do something stupid," she replied testily.

"Well, let's try and be logical about this," he said reasonably. "If he doesn't have a car, he's not going to get very far. Is Hal's car is still in the driveway? And he doesn't know anyone in town. Are you sure that he wouldn't have gone down to the house?"

"If he did . . ." she started.

"Never mind the threats," he said quickly. "I'll call Emmeline."

While Rob called Emmeline, Sylvia checked and discovered that Hal's car was in the driveway. She then ran through the possibilities in her mind. Bernice had the Williams' car and someone would have noticed if he had taken Arabella. Keys would not be an issue. He was perfectly capable of starting any car without them. But Rob got off the phone very quickly.

"No he's not there," he said. "And I don't dare call again about it. Apparently Trelawney picked up on the fact that he is in town. She has been huddling by Catherine ever since I brought the doll down earlier."

"Do you mean she . . ." began Sylvia.

"She can now not only ascertain who is at the door," he said. "She is able to know what is being said, even if the conversation is taking place in another part of the house."

"Good gracious!" she replied. "I don't know anyone who can do that. She is really developing some extremely perceptive powers. It is going to make it very hard for anyone to have a private conversation while she is in the house."

"Well, going back to the more immediate problem of what happened to your brother, you know him better than I do. What do you think happened to him?" asked Rob.

"Let's see," she said. "If you and I weren't around to keep an eye on him, who else was there? Wait a minute, where is Waldo?"

"I believe that he has been sulking behind the couch in the living room all day," answered Rob. "He's been in a bad mood since Mrs. Clancy kicked him out of the house the minute that she walked in the door yesterday. Then he was upset because Elspeth was allowed to go down there."

"Not to get off the subject," said Sylvia. "But why is that?"

"Because she is not an 'enormous, hairy creature,'" he said. "To quote Mrs. Clancy. Elspeth insisted on going once she knew that Trelawney would be there. She takes her responsibility to protect her very seriously. But she isn't allowed on the second floor. I believe that she is guarding the staircase."

"Well, come on," she replied. "Let's see what Waldo can tell us."

"Waldo," she said when they got upstairs. "We need to ask you a few questions."

There was some whimpering behind the couch as he complained about being up here, while Elspeth got to be at his house.

"Waldo," she said avoiding the issue. "Come out. You may have important information that we need."

The dog came out from behind the couch hanging his head.

"Now Waldo," she said. "This is very important. Did you see when Liam left?"

With a short bark, he responded yes.

"Okay," she said. "Did you see who he left with and do you have any idea of where he went?"

He whimpered for a bit. Sylvia turned to Rob.

"He went out with Mike and Topher," she explained. "Apparently they think that Johnny's in town. Some cousin, a man, came to see Aunt Henrietta this morning. Liam figures that if Johnny is in town so is the 'bloody unicorn,' to quote him. They drove off in Topher's van."

"Well, that solves that mystery," said Rob. "Did they say anything about where they were going?"

Waldo answered right away, with another detailed answer.

"He says that they went to look for the unicorn. The boys don't know where he is or what he looks like of course. But they do know their way around town. But Liam knows what he looks like. It seems that they have decided to work together to find him," she replied. "Thank you, Waldo. This has been very helpful. We are very pleased that you were here to keep an eye on things."

Waldo barked happily and went off, probably to eat something. At least he wasn't sulking anymore about being there. He was really much more useful to them here than down at the Professor's anyway. They didn't need two dogs guarding the staircase. Rob looked at her as if he didn't know what to think.

"He's almost as good of an eavesdropper as Elspeth. And quite a tattletale as well," commented Sylvia. "We'll need to remember that."

"Why would they be looking for Cholmondeley here?" asked Rob.

"I don't believe that the boys came here looking for Cholmondeley," she said. "My best guess is that Butch told Mike about Liam and they came here looking for him. They must have picked up information about Johnny being in town from somewhere else. It seems that you have a lot of loose tongues in this town and Butch is among them."

"So then cousin who came to see Aunt Henrietta is John, you're guessing? Meaning that you agree with Liam?" asked Rob.

"Yes, I believe so. After all, if Johnny's here, then it's likely that Cholmondeley is here as well," she said. "Johnny's the one who tipped him off so that he knew what Liam was up to, being his new best buddy and all that. Liam thought that the most logical place for him to come is here. Johnny might have helped him find Auntie as well, who knows what that means? He already knows where Hal lives."

"So then the object at this point for them would be to find Trelawney?" asked Rob.

"Yes, and perhaps even Francine. She does live next door you know," she said. "Remember that Francine knows the story as well as Trelawney. And she was the one who actually told."

"You know," said Rob. "I don't know a lot about this character, but there doesn't seem to be anything to imply that he's extremely violent or dangerous. In fact, the worst that he had done up to this point was avoid his duty to marry Phoebe."

"And what he did to the little one. You can't forget about that," she said. "And that is really the crux of the matter. We tried to explain it to you before. He could be a very desperate man at this point. And desperate men take desperate measures. Knowing how Topher and Mike feel about Trelawney, if Liam tells them what he did to her, then we could have all three of them out to get him. This could be real trouble for the two lads."

"Why just them?" asked Rob.

Sylvia thought for a minute. There was no way to explain to Rob how Liam could get out of trouble in the blink of an eye. However, hotheaded as Liam was, he would never leave behind two mates to take the blame for a muddle that he created. It was just not like him.

"Did you just hear that?" she asked quickly, glad of the opportunity to change the subject.

They both listened.

"That was a rumble of thunder," said Rob. "These big storms have been blowing in all summer. It's feast or famine, either a drought or a downpour."

"That doesn't sound good," she said.

"It's not," replied Rob. "There is always a chance that we could lose power if a branch or tree falls on a power line. We were very lucky the last time that we had a storm, but sooner or later our luck is bound to run out.

The storm blowing in was starting to worry Sylvia. Rob checked the news on the television and commented that they needed to "batten down the hatches." He was very sanguine about it, but now she was worried about Phoebe. Now that she knew that these kinds of storms with high winds frequently knocked out the power, she hoped that Phoebe wouldn't have to give birth during a blackout.

Of course, she did have an old dragon for a midwife. Remembering old Mrs. Pengally, she doubted that such a one as her would be bothered by a power outage. She also knew that Phoebe wouldn't know the difference. As long as they had enough light to work in, it shouldn't be a problem.

And she couldn't even begin to think of what might happen if Cholmondeley found out that Phoebe was in labor with Hal's child. That was just another wild card out there. He might not care, but then again he might. It was hard to tell with someone who was such an erratic character. Nothing that he did made sense anymore.

After all that she heard, it seemed that he might have actually lost his reason. Auntie Justine had always said that he was an odd lad, but this was more than odd, it was wicked. And before she had heard of what he did to the little one that was an adjective that she would never have used to describe him. It sounded as though Trelawney was being very brave for her sister's sake by not expressing her fears about the unicorn, knowing that if Liam was here that he had "come back to life," so to speak.

She was still not sure of the value of the undercover security guards around the house. She knew that the house would be locked up tight, but if Johnny and Cholmondeley wanted to get in, they could, with or without the guards there. It was useful to know that Johnny had showed up at Auntie's, but it would be more useful to know if she was saying anything new in her premonitions.

However now they were reliant on what people outside the house with information would tell them. Some of them might not want to bother them. She was reluctant to start calling around. If they did it would no doubt start another world of problems. Lois was always discreet and reliable, but she was probably already worried about her son.

She could see how Liam had gotten restless and gone out, on his own. He never liked to sit still to begin with, but even he knew that there was nothing that he could do on his own. It was unfortunate that Topher and Mike had managed to find him. However, she did know that Topher was a very resourceful young man, not to mention very level headed. He had a scientific brain so he would probably take the time to analyze such things before going off half-cocked. If there was anyone now who could save Liam from himself, it was Topher. Mike was more passionate, but she suspected that he would defer to Topher in such matters.

The phone rang and Rob picked it up. It was a brief conversation.

"That was Bernice," he said. "She and Prudence went north of here to spend the day in the country. She has seen the weather reports, so she plans to stay put until she knows that the storms have passed."

"That's sensible of her," commented Sylvia.

Rob looked at her sheepishly. "Especially compared to myself last month. But if they want to know down at the house, at least I can assure them that she is safe."

Sylvia nodded. But she was also starting to worry about Francine. Even her overprotective mother didn't know about the very real danger that the child could be in. And now the storm had broken almost directly overhead. The wind and thunder sounded ominous.

Perhaps the storm would be bad enough that all of them would stay put. But with emotions running as high as they were, that was probably wishful thinking. The only truly cowardly one among them was Johnny and he was a minor player. In fact, Cholmondeley might jettison him if he got in the way. All she could hope for was that Cholmondeley would satisfy himself with going after the little one. She was very well protected. However, if the boys found him first, then it wouldn't be a problem. Suddenly she thought of something.

"Rob," she said. "Those two undercover security men you have watching the Professor's house, maybe they could watch the Fowler's house too."

"That sounds like a good idea," said Rob. "I'll call right away."

But no sooner had he gotten off the phone then the lights went out. Oh great, she thought. Phoebe is in labor, probably close to giving birth. We have three reckless lads out there searching for two men bent on finding the little one, one of them desperate to clear his name any way that he could. Another young girl who is potentially in danger and who could even guess what Aunt Henrietta was up to.

Rob lit a flashlight and tried the phone.

"It's dead," he said. "It's not safe to be out there under any circumstances anyway."

"I figured that out," she said grimly. "But I don't think that it's going to stop our three heroes. Will you look at all that bloody lightening! It's almost as if . . ."

". . . The lights were falling from the sky," finished Rob. "That strikes another one of our interpretations of the premonitions as wrong."

"Well," said Sylvia. "Darkness may have conquered the light for now, but don't count our lads out yet."

**Refuge**

The minute the lights went out in the room, Tom snapped on the two spotlights. Then he lit the lantern, which, for what it was, gave very bright light. Unfortunately, the dark in the house made the lightening seem even brighter. Phoebe, Hal, the nurse, and the midwife were barely aware of what had happened. Emmeline came over to him quickly.

"Trelawney has always been afraid of the dark," she said quietly. "Let me bring one of the spotlights over there so that she doesn't kick up a fuss."

As Emmeline made her way over to the other side of the room, he could see her and Catherine come into focus. Trelawney was quietly sobbing as Catherine comforted her. The light helped to settle her and Emmeline drew her onto her lap.

"There, there, love," she said softly. "Em's here. You know that you can always count on your Em when things are rough. Now your Phoebe is trying to push the little one out. You don't want to be worrying her now. Do you?"

Tom watched the child shake her head, but he doubted very much if Phoebe was even aware. He could tell that the contractions were getting very painful. Her cries were becoming louder. Hal was helping her to breathe through them, but the baby still didn't seem to be coming.

"Take it easy, Phoebe," said Mrs. Clancy calmly. "She's not ready to come yet. There now, that's a girl. Breathe out a little more slowly. Try to relax and it will go easier for you."

The "old dragon" as Emmeline had called her had suddenly become very gentle. She knew that if Phoebe would calm herself a little that the child would come sooner. The room was becoming stifling from the heat, but there was no way to open the windows. The room would be soaked in minutes. Phoebe and Hal were both drenched in sweat and the water from the cool towels that Mrs. Morgan kept bringing him to help cool her.

He remembered this much from the times that he had spent with Bernice when she had given birth. The pushing preceding the birth could take a long time. But Bernice had had something for the pain and had been in a hospital. It appeared that lights or not, the process would go on. Both the nurse and midwife were exceptionally composed, despite the fact that they were both sweating. They continued to encourage Phoebe and Hal.

Tom was getting restless. He had heard a limb or tree crack and crash before the power went out. He really wanted to go outside and see what had happened. He picked up the phone and discovered that it was dead. Whatever had pulled down the power line had pulled down the telephone line as well. It wasn't much use to look out the windows in Hal's bedroom since they didn't face the street. But the boys' room across the hall did. He picked up one of the smaller flashlights, snapped it on, and went across the hall.

It was difficult to tell from the window, but something very large, probably not a tree but a large limb had pulled down the lines between the two houses, theirs and Fowler's. It looked like the whole street was affected. Suddenly he thought of Bernice and Prudence.

He knew that Bernice had taken her out of town for the day. Fortunately, she was a lot more cautious than Rob about driving into a potential storm. He had no doubt about the fact that she would check a weather report before she left wherever she was and stay put if it looked as though she might drive through any kind of severe weather. He still wished that he knew where they were. But even if Rob knew, there was no way to contact him.

Now that he knew what had caused the power loss, there was not much that he or anyone else could do about it until the wind and rain stopped. The thunder and lightening were still blazing and rumbling all around them. And the wind was very strong. He heard the crack of another branch and then a thud on the roof. This time it came from the back of the house. Everyone in the room except Phoebe looked up but he indicated that they shouldn't worry about it. He would check it out.

He went downstairs to the kitchen so that he could open the door and look out. A huge branch had crashed down from a tree above and was resting on the house. From what he could tell there was no damage to the house. But looking around the backyard, it looked like a war zone with branches, leaves, and all kinds of debris littering it. Another branch had taken out the fence between their house and Fowler's.

He heard a noise behind him. He turned around and saw Emmeline carrying Trelawney in. Elspeth was beside them, closely attentive to the girl.

"Please, Mr. Williams," said Trelawney anxiously. "You must go and get Francine and Mrs. Fowler. Mr. Fowler is away and they need help."

"How do you know that?" he asked.

Emmeline looked at him strangely.

"Suffice it to say that she knows," she said quickly. "Do as she says quickly. Please."

Tom looked at them both. They were both deadly serious. This was obviously another example of the child's prescience. Seeing a rain poncho hanging on a hook, he grabbed it and ran across the yard to the house next door. When he banged on the back door, Mrs. Fowler answered it.

"Come over to our house quickly," he said. "Trelawney says that it is for your own safety."

"Well, I never . . ." started Mrs. Fowler. But Francine interrupted from behind it.

"Oh be quiet Mother!" she said loudly. "If Trelawney says that we need to go there, then we need to go."

She threw on a rain jacket and came towards him. Mutely, her mother grabbed a coat and her poodle Fifi and followed. When they reached the house, they quickly entered and he slammed the door behind them as the wind blew fiercely. Another large branch fell close to the door. The only exit from the house was now the front door and it probably wasn't safe to go out that way either. The power line was down across the front yard.

Trelawney was now standing beside Emmeline. She was looking much calmer. She put her arms around Francine, and then said, "Now you are safe. The unicorn will not get you either."

The unicorn? thought Tom.

Fifi and Elspeth eyed each suspiciously for a moment, but then after exchanging a few short barks, sat down expectantly.

Mrs. Fowler looked absolutely bemused and then they all heard Phoebe cry out from upstairs.

"Come on," said Emmeline. "We need to get back up. Mrs. Fowler and Francine, you will probably want to stay in the boys' room across the hall."

"Is Mrs. Everett giving birth here? Now?" asked Mrs. Fowler, astonished.

"Hopefully very soon," replied Emmeline. "She's been having contractions all day and now she's finally able to push."

Tom looked around at the two women, the two dogs, and the two girls. The whole scene was surreal to him. A young woman was giving birth upstairs and suddenly the house seemed full. For some reason the issue of the unicorn had resurfaced. It was most baffling. They all walked back to the front of the house to return to the second floor. When they got to the staircase both dogs stayed there to guard it.

Emmeline looked at them. "You lot better behave or it'll be outdoors with both of you. And you won't like it, I promise."

Elspeth whimpered a bit and Fifi barked in agreement.

"See, Em," said Trelawney. "They've worked it out and Fifi will be helping out Elspeth."

Tom looked at them as if they were crazy and Mrs. Fowler now looked completely confused. Francine was unbothered. Whatever was happening, it was obvious that she knew all about it, probably from Trelawney. So they all went back upstairs.

Nothing new had happened. Trelawney went over to sit beside Catherine again and she handed her back the doll. Emmeline sat on her other side. Mrs. Fowler and Francine took the small flashlight into the other bedroom. It was easier to send them over than try and explain their presence at the moment.

"Not dropped far enough yet," said Mrs. Clancy after making another inspection.

Phoebe groaned. It was now obvious that she just wanted it all over. Hal wiped her face with a cool towel and whispered more words of encouragement. She looked up at him with love. He softly kissed her lips.

"I don't think that she's a very big baby," commented Mrs. Morgan. "In the end she should pass through very easily."

"Yes, if she drops a little farther," said Mrs. Clancy nodding. "But the mother is small boned, narrow hips, you see?"

"Is Phoebe going to be able to do this?" asked Catherine anxiously.

Mrs. Clancy gave her a scathing look.

"I have never failed to deliver a healthy baby," she declared. "We know that the child is healthy and so is the mother. Just because it will take a little longer doesn't mean that she can't do it."

Catherine looked over at Mrs. Morgan who rolled her eyes at the insistence of the midwife. She gave them all an amused look. With which she implied, just humor the old dragon. She knows what she's doing. She herself was a well-trained and experienced obstetrical nurse. And she didn't appear to be at all worried. Tom got the feeling that Phoebe couldn't be in better hands if she had been in a hospital.

"Now, Phoebe," said Mrs. Clancy, returning to her patient. "Everything is just fine with the baby. I can hear her heartbeat. It's good and strong. Give yourself more time to relax between contractions. See here, your husband hasn't fainted yet."

The last comment got a little smile out of Phoebe. Once again, Trelawney stood up and placed her hand on Phoebe's stomach, right where the baby was. She seemed to be listening and then turned and smiled to her sister. Phoebe looked back at her and then leaned back on the pillows and took a long, slow deep breath. She clearly was comforted by Trelawney's action.

Trelawney turned to Emmeline and smiled. Emmeline looked back at her in approval. Whatever communication was going on between them, it appeared to be all good. Trelawney then sat down beside Catherine again and held her doll tightly. When she walked away from the bed, the tension returned her face. He could see that she was not worried about Phoebe. Whatever else it was, it had nothing to do with what was happening in the room. And she was determined to hide it from her sister.

Tom could only shake his head in wonder at the little girl. This was more than imaginative behavior. She seemed to be capable of precognition of some sort. She, Phoebe, and Emmeline also seemed to be capable of some other kind of nonverbal communication. And they seemed to be able to talk to animals. But most astonishing was that Trelawney actually seemed to be able to communicate with Phoebe's unborn child. If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, he wouldn't have believed it.

It was obvious to him that Trelawney, at least, was made up of more than starlight, whimsy, and pixie dust. The three of them seemed to have some kind of highly developed intuitive faculties. He had sometimes heard his Cornish parents speak of such people, but at the time it had always seemed that they were part of the realm of fairy tales, not reality. He could see that the child, or the little one as they so often called her, was even more than what she had seemed to be to him. She may be a little bit fey, but as Emmeline had said, that only seemed to strengthen her ties to the universal consciousness.

He thought of the family members that he had met: Phoebe, Trelawney, Emmeline, Sylvia, Lewis. He remembered hearing of Uncle David and Uncle Charlie. These were all good, kind, and gentle people. They were deeply committed to each other and to family. In stark contrast to that was Aunt Henrietta, who was more than nuts, she was evil.

He still had to wonder at why Trelawney had insisted that the Fowlers come over here, and about the fact that Emmeline had so strongly supported her. But he also knew better than to ask. Everyone else had more important things on their minds than Trelawney's prescience. He looked at his watch. It was now coming on ten. If everyone was right and the baby was to born tonight, it was lucky that at least there were only two more hours to go.

He wished that the storm would ease up. Storms like this never lasted for nearly two hours. Or at least they didn't last at this intensity. All of this was extremely unusual. He did not think that any of the others were paying attention to the time passing by. Then Phoebe gave a cry louder than any before when she pushed down.

"It won't be long now, Phoebe," said Mrs. Clancy soothingly. "I think that this little one has finally decided that she wants to be born."

**A Visit to the Evil Witch**

When they picked up Liam at Mr. Everett's house, Mike was not so sure about how he felt about him. He was a very angry man. But then he told them what the unicorn or the big jerk or whatever his name was had done to Trelawney. It made his blood boil. He thought about the sweet and simple girl and wondered how much that guy had damaged her.

It seemed that despite what had happened to her, the girl was still very trusting. She never seemed to fear anyone or anything unless she was given reason. Francine had told him that when the other kids in school teased her or the teachers grew impatient with her she was at first confused and then very hurt. But she was comfortable now that she was no longer in public school.

It also now made sense to him that she always looked for strong people to befriend and it explained why she always seemed to be so fragile. He thought of how she had portrayed Laura in "The Glass Menagerie," and more recently Hero in "Much Ado About Nothing." Underneath both of those innocent characters she had demonstrated a sweet sadness, a knowing, an understanding of things that should have been beyond her.

One of the things that had amazed him was that she was able to bring a very real pathos to both characters and portray them with a level of sophistication that should have been beyond her. Laura's calm acceptance of her fate and dependence on her mother were two qualities that were a part of Trelawney's life story. Hero's betrayal by her betrothed and then faith that things could be set right were also familiar to her.

Now that he knew that she herself had been betrayed by someone who should have cared for her. In fact this same man had been promised to her sister. Instead, he had stolen her innocence and made her feel as though _she _had betrayed the person she loved most in the world. He realized how she could be both childlike and knowing at the same time.

Mrs. Duncan once told him that she had the eyes of an old soul. If you looked past the animated face, you could see the sadness in them. She clearly missed her parents and yearned for the time when she could live again with her sister. But because she never wanted "to be a bother," she often hid her feelings under the joyful laugh. And Francine had told him that when she was sad, she was very sad. Most of the time she just didn't understand the world around her. Those were the times that she closed up inside herself.

It seemed to him that she was always in need of protection. He understood why the Everetts were constantly watchful and her sister so upset when there was any threat against her. But things had never seemed so dire for her as they were now. Her cousin Liam was determined to make sure that this unicorn fellow would never be able to get near her again. He was afraid that that meant he was willing to kill the man if necessary.

He had never seen anyone so angry, even his mother when she was going on one of her tears against his father. But it was completely understandable. He and Topher had only known Trelawney for a year and she had managed to wind herself around both their hearts.

He couldn't even imagine what it must be like for her cousin who had known her for all of her life. On the way over to get a bite to eat, he told them that one day Trelawney's would be his to care for as if he was her father. It was the way things worked in their world. Right now, she was under the care and protection of his father, who had been her father's closest brother. When his father passed, it would become his "sacred duty" to keep her safe and happy.

"Okay," said Topher, after they had driven to another diner. "We need to assess the situation. We know what all the motives are, and who is in danger, but we need to figure out our next step."

"Sounds good," said Liam. "I'm starved but I haven't had time to get myself any American dollars. Good old Sylvia was determined to keep me short of money, so to speak."

"Don't worry about it," said Topher. "I have plenty of cash."

After they sat down at a quiet table in the back and placed their order, Topher grabbed a napkin and a pencil.

"Okay," he said. "So what have we got? The Princess and her crazy premonitions, this cousin, John, did you say his name was? They're together in this. And then there's the unicorn, but we don't know where he is."

"All right," said Liam. "Those are the bad guys, so to speak. Now at Rob's house we got Rob and Syl. At the Professor's house we got Em, Phoebe, the Professor, Trelawney, Catherine, and Tom."

"Where are Butch and Prudence?" asked Topher.

"Butch is at my house and Prudence went out of town with her other grandmother for the day," answered Mike.

"That's good," said Liam. "We wouldn't want the kids mixed up in this, now, would we?"

"Doesn't Trelawney count as a kid?" asked Mike.

"Trelawney is at the crux of the matter," replied Topher. "She's what we might call the common denominator."

"How do you figure that?" asked Liam, now curious.

"Okay, let's draw this out and put Trelawney in the middle," he said. "Your aunt wants to bring her back to the village to her grandfather. Cousin Johnny wants to bring her back there for the same reason. Now, they _think_ that the unicorn wants to bring her back because . . ."

"Oh," said Liam. "That one's mine. They think that if he can get her back to the village then it will clear his name. But they forgot that Trelawney doesn't lie. If they get her back to the village, it's worse for him. She'll never be able to hide such a thing from the family now that we all know. She could do it when she was little because she didn't understand it. We think that Francine tried to explain it to her. That was when she really became frightened of him. So he'll make sure that she don't go back, if you catch my drift."

"So then, Francine is caught in this because she's Trelawney's best friend and knows the truth," he continued. "Now, Trelawney is also Mrs. Everett's sister."

"It'll break poor Phoebe's heart if anything happens to the child," added Liam. "She's sworn to care for the girl for the rest of her life. And Em's sworn to help her as well."

"But Mr. and Mrs. Everett are her guardians," pointed out Mike.

"For now, and only because Dad permitted it. It's too complicated to explain in enough detail for you to make sense of it at the moment," replied Liam. "She'll go back to Phoebe, you'll see. That's the way it was always meant to be, even if Auntie Meg and Uncle Owen hadn't passed on so early."

"You mean that there was never an expectation that Trelawney would live on her own? I mean without some family member like her parents or her sister?" asked Topher in amazement.

"Those such as Trelawney can't. Perhaps if she had stayed in the village, they could have found some gentle soul to marry her, and take care of her as she needs. Things are much easier for her there. Life is much simpler and everyone there looks out for her. She's a lovely little girl, but in a very real sense she'll always be a little girl," he answered. "Now out here in the larger world, you'll never find such a man. There's too much caring that would need to be done out here. But her Phoebe knows her better than anyone and will take care of her. When things are settled it will be easier."

"What do you mean by settled?" asked Mike.

"Well for one thing," explained Liam. "They've got to find a proper school for her. If the new school works, that'll be good. And when Phoebe's life is more organized with the children and the Professor then that's important as well."

"But they all love Trelawney, don't they?" asked Mike.

"Yes," said Liam. "But it's been a hard year. There have been lots of big changes and adjustments for all of them. Trelawney loves her Mama Kate and good Catherine cares for her almost as well as Auntie Meg would, but the little one also knows that she was always meant to be with Phoebe. In fact it was she that insisted she go to America with Em to tell poor Phoebe the news.

"She kept telling us that she had been left to Phoebe in the will. She wanted to be with her Phoebe. It's just the way that it is with those two. My Mum backed her up. She said that she needed to be where Auntie Meg had wanted her. You see, nobody will ever take the place of her Phoebe and Phoebe herself will never be completely happy until the little one is back in her home. And now there is the fear that follows them wherever they go."

"The unicorn?" asked Topher.

"As long as the bloody unicorn is out there, there's no peace for either of them," he said. "He can't go back to the village with this hanging over him. But if Trelawney and this girl Francine are gone then the only one to speak up is Auntie Agatha. She's a sweet old lady, but a little dotty sometimes. It would have been better if had it been Aunt Justine who had discovered the information from Francine. Even Cholmondeley wouldn't be able to stand up and challenge her."

Topher sighed. "It's seems like the more that we know the crazier it gets. Where do we start?"

"How about with the Princess?" asked Mike.

"Are you nuts?" asked Topher.

"No," he said. "We aren't interested in her premonitions, but she probably knows where this guy Johnny is. After all, the last people to see her said that they were together."

"And if she knows where Johnny is," said Liam. "He should be able to lead us to the unicorn. Johnny always was a lily-livered, little twit. He's only brave when he thinks that no one will stand up to him. The only reason why he got into this whole mess with Cholmondeley is that his mother, Auntie Clara is one of the Featherstonehaughs and all of them say that the little one is lying.

"Johnny never could stand up to her. And once I get my hands on him, he'll tell me what I want to know. Especially if I spell out for him exactly what is at stake. If any harm comes to the child and he helped, then Grandfather will never forgive him. And I would only be too happy at this point to tattle on Auntie and her part in this whole mess. Serve her right, it would if she was on the outs with the old man."

"Well," said Topher. "At least we know where the Princess lives."

"Hey, Toph," said Mike. "Look at the weather out there. It looks like another storm is brewing."

"Yeah," he replied. "I'd definitely say so. We better finish up eating and get over there before it becomes too dangerous to drive."

"Now, lad," said Liam smiling. "Weren't you the young fool who went out and saved Rob, the Professor, and Butch?"

Topher gave him one of his big grins. Mike knew that Topher was not afraid of anything. It seemed like Liam was pretty reckless too. But it was too late for him to back down now, even if the two of them did seem to be nuts. Besides, one of them needed to stay calm and be the voice of reason. If Trelawney's life were at stake, then he would go to hell with these to guys to save her.

Topher paid the bill and they left. As they pulled out of the diner parking lot the wind was beginning to pick up. According to the radio, people should get off the road and seek shelter. Not very likely, thought Mike. Liam and Topher seemed to have no concerns at all. After a while they pulled up to the address.

Mike had never been at the Princess's house before, he had only heard about it. Now that he was there, he realized why she was able to make so much money off of all those women who were her "true believers." Even if it weren't a stormy night it would have looked creepy. It had the perfect theatrical atmosphere that she needed to sell her predictions to the foolish and gullible. It was a pretty neat set up. Topher and Liam looked at each other and rolled their eyes.

"Leave it to old Auntie," said Liam. "This is the perfect spot for all of her superstitious nonsense. Sets the right tone for her séances, so to speak."

"Yeah," said Topher. "I can see why she's raking it in. But I also know that she is pretty good at checking out her marks. I was working for this old lady on the other side of town. The Princess scoped her out pretty good before she gave her advice. Then she made a good guess that her older sister was bossy. The only thing that she really hit on was this bit about a good turn coming back tenfold. She gave me lemonade and I offered to fix her shutters. That's what convinced the old broad that you couldn't go wrong by her."

"That's how she works," commented Liam. "She gets a enough right that she builds up 'credibility,' so to speak, with a few people. And then they tell more potential customers about her. She's lasted here longer than most places. I'm guessing that you have more foolish people out here in California that believe her. Odd though, she normally would have tripped herself up long before this."

"I wonder if that means anything," said Mike slowly, thinking out loud. "The fact that she has been doing better here than usual that is. That's what has given her the opportunity to hang around here for so long."

The other two turned around and looked at him. Topher had a thoughtful expression on his face.

"If it doesn't fit the usual pattern, then it probably does mean something," said Topher.

"It could mean that's she's getting some outside help," said Liam. "There's someone that has wanted her here and is now helping her to stay here. It's the only explanation for it."

"But who?" asked Mike. "All her correct guesses make sense. But some of the stuff she gets right seems to come from out of the blue. But no one could be right that often, even coincidentally. Wouldn't the law of averages or something like that have kicked in by now, Toph?"

He could see that Topher was thinking real hard about something.

"You know," he said. "If there really are forces of darkness out there, then maybe they are the ones who are helping her. It seems like something out there has it in for Trelawney, other than the Princess that is, and she's the best person I know."

"Trelawney is a child of light," said Liam thoughtfully. "And so is Phoebe for that matter. And there's many in the family who think that the baby is too."

"What is a child of light?" asked Mike puzzled.

"Someone that I shouldn't have mentioned to you," said Liam ruefully. "But now that I've opened my mouth, I might as well tell you. Phoebe and Trelawney are both children of light because when their parents died they went to heaven straight off. They have always been kind, good, and gentle people. They look for the best in everyone.

"That is always your first clue that someone may be a child of light. We all know all about the parents being in heaven now, because Trelawney told us. And like I said, Trelawney never lies. But many think that the baby is a child of light as well. But nobody can explain why."

"So if Trelawney is a child of light, then the Princess would be her natural enemy," said Mike.

"Where do you come by that idea?" asked Liam, looking interested.

"My Mom thinks that the Princess is evil, because she's always causing problems," he replied. "But I think that she's too dumb to be evil. No, the idea that the dark forces or whatever they are giving her some help totally makes sense."

"Hey, Mike," said Topher. "You've heard of the trances and the deep trances, right?"

"Everyone has, haven't they?" he said. "She says all of her really crazy stuff in the deep trances."

"Well maybe the deep trances are when she's not the one in control," he said. "You know how Trelawney says stuff sometimes and it's like she's in a dream? Only everything that she says is good, very wise, or both."

"Okay, lads," said Liam. "Let's not start worrying about figuring out the trances. I think that we need to get in there and confront the old bat ourselves. We'll get nowhere if all we do is talk about her. But if we can work her up into one of these 'deep trances' that you're talking about maybe we'll learn something. Besides, it looks like that devil of a storm is brewing up as we speak. Let's waste no more time."

The three of them got out of the van and walked up to the door. The wind was picking up and they could hear the rumble of thunder in the distance. Liam knocked. A voice called out from within.

"Go away unbelievers!" called the Princess. "Take your bad karma and leave! William Figalilly, your temper will lead you to a bad end."

"Oh, put a sock in it, Auntie!" Liam called back. "The only bad karma around here is yours if you're hiding that sniveling fool Johnny Trelawney in there somewhere."

"Been looking out the window, she has," he said turning to the boys. "Pay her no mind, it'll drive her crazy. Let's see if we can get her temper up."

He tried the door and discovered it was open. Mike didn't like the idea very much, but they walked in. It wasn't too hard to find her. She was in a room with a crystal ball and a bunch of Hindu symbols. She was also wearing a turban and her usual assortment of flowing garments and beads. In the half-light of the room, she certainly did look malevolent and otherworldly. It all looked very theatrical to Mike. Liam seemed to be watching her very closely.

"You're lying!" he declared. "I can see it in your aura, muddy grey that it is. Now tell us where Johnny is and we'll leave you to go in peace to keep chasing after your filthy lucre."

"And, you, you young fool, are surrounded by a deep red aura," she said eerily. "Your anger will be the end of you for sure."

She looked back at him with her bulging brown eyes, but Liam refused to be intimidated. Topher was also not the least bit afraid. Mike was doing his best to keep his cool, but he was starting to regret that he had gotten himself mixed up in this whole thing. Perhaps his mother had been right. If it were anyone other than Trelawney he would never have taken such a risk.

"The bright lights are falling from the sky as we speak!" she declared. They could now hear thunder crashing overhead and lightening seemed to continuously light the sky. The wind was blowing through the old house, which added to the atmosphere.

So much for the meteor showers, he thought. Now we have more than enough bright lights falling. The power of the storm indicated that a lot of people could be in danger right now. As the rain lashed the building, they could hear limbs and trees falling. Oh, great, he thought. What better incentive for more people to come than such a dramatic illustration of her "powers." He imagined that every fool in town would be lining up at her door when this was over.

"So what's next, Auntie?" taunted Liam. "I didn't know that you had taken up weather reporting in your spare time."

Topher stifled a laugh, but then became still. They all did, even Liam. Something had changed in her affect. She looked genuinely creepy, different than Mike had seen her before. He could only assume that this was a "deep trance."

"The cousin is present," she said eerily. "The two sisters are in danger. There is an innocent party who will be harmed, unless . . ."

"Unless what?" Mike found himself asking once she paused. She stared out as if she had not comprehended his question.

He looked over at Liam and Topher. Topher was looking at her very curiously, he was obviously not afraid. But Liam suddenly had the oddest look on his face. He was staring at the Princess as if he saw something new. Mike looked again, but didn't see anything different. But Liam then looked very angry.

"Give it up, Auntie!" he ordered her. "Or we'll expose you for the bloody fraud that you are!"

Then suddenly, the Princess looked at them with the same look of anger that she had before.

"Search my home if you wish," she said grandly gesturing with her right hand. "The only ones that you will find here are Rosalie and I."

"Is that the same Rosalie that Trelawney calls the little fool?" asked Mike, suddenly feeling brave.

"My Rosalie is no fool," replied the Princess haughtily. "That fey little creature does not know what she is talking about. Rosalie will have her revenge for all the wrong that she has been done. You will see."

"Bloody Rosalie can't do anything to hurt the little one. She never was capable of knowing her own mind. She just goes on repeating whatever anyone tells her," said Liam. "You are nothing more than the evil witch. Our Trelawney is safe with the good queen and the good king. Her gallant knight and warrior maiden stand by as well. Phoebe and the baby have an old dragon to look after them, they do. There will be no interfering with the children of light on this night."

"The light cannot defeat the darkness," she screeched. "You will see!"

"And you will see the backs of us now," said Liam. "Come on lads, we have no more reason to hang around here. I've figured you out, Auntie. You are now irrelevant."

The Princess stared back at him, but said nothing. Mike took one look back at her and could see nothing but hatred in her eyes.

Mike and Topher followed him out in confusion. They didn't see how they knew any more than they had when they had walked in. Whatever Liam had learned, they had completely missed it.

"What the hell was that all about?" asked Topher.

"It was all about hell," said Liam grimly. "It's time to go defeat the forces of darkness."

Once again, Mike and Topher looked at each other and shrugged. If Liam weren't so deadly serious, they might have thought that he was joking. When Topher started up the van, they could see that it was almost ten o'clock.

"Where to?" asked Topher.

"The Professor's house," said Liam. "I have some unfinished business to take care of with the bloody unicorn."

"Are you sure that he's there?" asked Mike.

"If he's not, then he's close by," replied Liam. "And Johnny's with him."

"What was all that that you said about Trelawney and her medieval people?" asked Topher. "And the auras?"

"It's too long to explain now," said Liam. "But you don't need to fear for anyone's safety. This time around, Auntie made one premonition too many. Trelawney's got her figured out. They will all be safe, but it's time for this nonsense to end once and for all."

"So then let's end it," said Topher firmly and drove out to the part of town where the Everetts lived.

_To be continued . . . _


	4. Chapter 4

**The Angel Ruminates**

The storm that had begun on the evening of August 13, was one of the wildest that Jason had seen since he had come to California. By nine o'clock that night, it had reached a fever pitch. Concerned by its potential destructive force, he walked outside to get a measure of its power. Lightening crackled through the sky and thunder resounded all around. The wind was clearly blowing at gale force. It was not safe for anyone to be outside. But he was not anyone.

The origin of this storm was more than meteorological. In fact scientists would likely struggle for years to explain it. He could feel the psychic powers of the cosmos contending with one another within his very being. There were angry forces in the universe playing out a mighty struggle of good versus evil. The clouds above him seemed to lower the sky in a deep billowing black ceiling. They appeared to be swirling around, rather than moving through and beyond.

The lightening that was flashing almost continuously through them were angry red slashes through the night. Many of them did not even appear to be touching the ground. It was most peculiar. Someone or something was not only angry. He was frustrated. And he was not merely filled with rage, but with malice. Someone or something was going to have to pay for the failure of this last effort to thwart destiny.

And that frustration was all centered on the city, playing out its fury with cyclonic intensity. It was regenerating itself with every rotation. Normal storms of this strength never lasted in a single place for this long. They wreaked their havoc and moved along. But this one was no normal storm. It was a last ditch effort by the negative forces that had pursued Trelawney and Phoebe in order to interfere with or prevent the birth of Maisie. It was a last ditch effort to still somehow disrupt it.

He could see that the premonitions were all playing out, but not the way that they had thought. Did they ever? The problem with analyzing premonitions of any kind was that even the most seemingly specific lacked at least one crucial piece of information. The lights were indeed falling from the sky and there was danger for all who waited (for the storm to end).

That aspect of the prediction had come true. However, the idea that the meteor shower was the cause of the falling lights and that danger lay only for those waiting for the birth of Maisie had obviously been a blind alley. It had very nearly caused them to be caught off guard. The rest of the premonitions were now even more uncertain.

Phoebe was no doubt giving birth as he stood there, but she was in no danger. The assembly of guardians precluded any interference by outside forces. Maisie, the child of light would be born safely. He could not know for sure, but he believed that the origin of the storm was anger in the cosmos by whoever had been determined to prevent her birth. It had been working for a long time. Thus its wrath was very great. Whatever role the child was to play in the future conflict between good and evil, it was essential to the victory of the good.

Maisie had always been destined to be Phoebe's child. If nothing else, Phoebe's present life was preconditioned on the fact that she would bear this child. But in order for that child to be safely born, Trelawney needed to be there. At the time of Trelawney's own birth, there had been many questions about the safety of her mother and the potential physical issues for herself. But Meg had known of the child's existence before she was conceived. In fact, she knew that she was waiting. In fact, Trelawney and Maisie were both waiting together. First to come was Trelawney, second, Maisie

Those in the village who blamed the child's simple mind on Meg's advanced age were not entirely wrong. It was in an effort to disguise her purpose in the larger scheme of things, that the forces for good had waited until this point. For at this point, she would be born without the complex mental faculties that most people would think that she needed to carry out her own role in destiny.

But things were not all that they seemed to be. Although the child was on many levels mentally simple, she was also savant in some areas. She was entrusted to a very special family, as a most special gift. What she lacked in that complexity of thinking that made her a burden to care for , she more than made up for in the unconditional love and devotion that she returned.

Meg and Owen had been given the capacity to love such a child and shelter her from the vicissitudes of life, even in their simple home village. And Meg, ever wary of these vicissitudes, had raised her older daughter Phoebe, to one day be her guardian. But even without Meg's encouragement, Phoebe would have felt a deep connection with her sister, even if she didn't understand it. She would probably never know that the infant sister whom she held in her arms after her birth, would one day insure the safe birth of her own child.

Beyond this nuclear family, there was an extensive network of other Figalillys. Owen's brother David, and Meg's sister Annabel were the closest of each of their own siblings. Their own six children were all good and loving people. David, Annabel, and their youngest child Emmeline were all sworn to aid Phoebe if the need should arise, in raising and caring for the child. But in fact all of the Figalilly cousins loved Trelawney. She was affectionately referred to by all as "the little one."

When Phoebe had been born sixteen years prior, she had been betrothed to Cholmondeley Featherstonehaugh, the eldest son of another local family. The betrothal had been celebrated by all in the village as another alliance between strong families to strengthen the fabric of their own "old-fashioned" values and lifestyle in a rapidly changing world. As more of the younger generation were bitten by the wander bug to roam, there seemed to be ever more fewer to stay at home and nurture the clan.

The twentieth century had brought with it, modern aviation and the ability to move between places faster than ever. It was an odd sort of thing to those who roamed to discover the new pace of the modern world. Phoebe's wanderlust had been driven by her desire to spread the homely values of her people to families around the world that needed mending. No one ever really knew why Cholmondeley traveled. But this was not so unusual. Prior to the twentieth century, many of the villagers who roamed, traveled for the sheer pleasure of it.

However, in the case of Phoebe and Cholmondeley, this precluded them marrying at what many would have viewed as an appropriate age for two young people. Since neither one was bothered by this, all went happily along. Cholmondeley went on his merry way, every so often stopping in for a visit and Phoebe didn't complain. But something was clearly up. Something was interfering with the normal transpiring of such matters.

Had Phoebe settled in the village with Cholmondeley as her husband, there would have been no question that Trelawney would have been present for the birth of her sister's child, it was simply a part of their culture. But of course, that would have been too easy. In an attempt to disrupt the birth of this fated child, Trelawney became the sacrifice, the victim of that same evil force that wanted to prevent the birth of the child. The force had taken no chances in the beginning. If necessary, it would destroy Trelawney in order to prevent Maisie's birth.

That weak character Cholmondeley had been the perfect foil for his plot and in fact had come very close to destroying her. But the timing was off. He acted too early, which meant that Trelawney was only damaged by an act that she was too young to understand. Her only response was that the betrothed was a "horrid person." An accusation that was too vague to be taken as anything other than a childish tantrum, was made and dismissed. However, he was only the tool of the evil forces, in an attempt to disrupt fate. He was not evil by nature, merely weak and easily led astray.

But then, a twist of fate interrupted its plans. No one was to blame for the car accident that killed Meg and Owen other than the drunk driver. The forces of evil had not calculated the unfated and ill-timed deaths of her parents that sent Trelawney to America to live with her sister.

She had encouraged her sister's natural attraction and romance with the Professor. She knew that there was something wrong with Cholmondeley that made him unworthy of her sister. And more than anything else, she wanted her sister to be happy. Her own growing psychic perceptions told her that this could only happen for her with the Professor.

Of course no one realized at the time that had Phoebe and Cholmondeley returned to the village with Trelawney and married, that the ensuing cataclysm of pain and suffering released by the final understanding of what Cholmondeley had done to the child, would have destroyed both sisters and caused grief throughout the village that could potentially have destroyed it. This would have been a great loss to the forces of good that sought to improve the world for all.

And so, when Cholmondeley finally came to claim his bride, Trelawney disrupted the betrothal and chased him off, at that point purely for her own purposes. But there had been a shift in destiny that Emmeline had partly surmised even before Cholmondeley had arrived.

She recognized that it was her parents' deaths that had opened the door for Phoebe to fall in love with her employer. She spent more time in his home, than she had in any other. He provided the shelter and emotional comfort she needed to pass through those early days of grief and suffering. For whatever reason, Cholmondeley had not come immediately and taken up the duty that was rightly his.

This unforeseen shift in her parents' fates, had led to a shift in Phoebe's destiny as well. In this case the instrument of this shift was Trelawney. It was she who wanted desperately to remain in America to make her sister happy. Only in this case, the shift was all for the good. Some good force, determined not to be defeated in the conception and birth of the child, decided that Maisie would be born anyway. It would allow her to be born of a mixed marriage.

Highly unusual, but not impossible, it developed that Phoebe was now fated to conceive the child by Hal. This was a most unusual circumstance, but likely an attempt to conceal the child's true identity. The choice of new father for Maisie was not mere opportunity.

Both Phoebe and Hal had sensed in their lovemaking, even before the conception of the child that they had known each other in the past. This was not pure imagining. They had not only known each other, but had, as Phoebe suspected, produced a child together. Hal's vision of Phoebe pregnant with his child was indeed a memory. This recognition was a further effort by the forces of good to deceive others by adding this element of the fated, star-crossed lovers to the story. It was a love story replayed from earlier lives.

But the forces of evil were not so easily deceived. More obstacles were set in the way, mostly taking the form of attempts to separate the two sisters. Trelawney suffered fears, nightmares, and temporary separation from her sister to keep the unborn child safe. Phoebe had suffered many of the same things, but to a lesser degree. And she had never learned the complete nature of the threat.

It was at this point that Jason had entered the picture. In a complex maneuvering by which Topher brought his youth group into a service project with three other churches, one of which was Trelawney's church, he met the two sisters. He had moved to this community several years ago, told that he was to "wait" for the child he was to guard. When Meg and Owen Figalilly learned of the injury to their younger daughter, as they watched their younger child in pain, they beseeched that she be sent a guardian. Her wounded spirit would only be healed by divine intervention. And they could do nothing themselves.

He knew that he had found the child when he began to talk to her and Francine on the worksite. The child's pain was evident. When he met her sister, he could see that she was also suffering. But then he was given the final confirmation of his mission. His responsibility was to care for the two sisters in the absence of their parents to relieve their own false guilt with regard to their suffering. And thus he became Trelawney's guardian angel. And he learned that Phoebe would not be able to follow through on her promise to her mother because of other circumstances.

Jason could only hope that Phoebe would never learn the full price that her sister had paid for her happiness and the life of her child. Instead of living the simple, happy life that one such as her could have lived in the village if the demands of fate had not called upon her, she lived haunted by fears that she could only cope with by retreating into an imaginary world of fairytales. When she was born, young Trelawney had not been destined for such a fate, but had been caught up in a situation not of her own making. Like any true child of light, she had acted in the only way that she knew possible for the greater good.

But tonight, Trelawney had done her work well. Of course she didn't realize this as matters had progressed. Her nightmares were the product of her fears of the negative forces assembling against her, her sister, and her unborn niece. Her dreams and fantasies were the product of the forces of the good forces. Those that wanted to see the infant child Maisie born. These would protect them all against the hostility of the forces of evil, as she assigned roles to those around her based on the universal archetypes.

He wondered if perhaps she now realized all of this. Probably not, as her mind was too simple to understand such abstract concepts. Months ago when Hal had thrown out the word archetype to her, she had looked at him blankly. It was a human explanation given to psychic forces that was beyond her comprehension.

She knew what she knew because she knew it. She never analyzed anything. It was others around her who did it for her. Prior to Maisie's birth, she had quietly assembled the perfect tetrarch of the best and strongest of the Jungian positive aspects of the masculine-feminine archetype: the good king and the good queen, the gallant knight and the warrior maiden. Unknown to anyone but the two of them Phoebe's fancies were in part inspired by her sister.

She naturally wanted her husband present, his mother, who had really become a surrogate mother to them both, as well as Tom, who had been led back to the family by Trelawney. Her busybody cousin, who had returned to help because Prudence had sent for her after her own meeting with the Princess, was also set in place. The old dragon of a midwife had been the perfect choice to stand as gatekeeper. Although that had been Phoebe's choice, it was based on what she had witnessed at Trelawney's birth.

And what were they up against now? The evil witch and the trickster. He didn't even have a name for John Trelawney, other than the idiot. He was about to learn that you could never be all things to all people, the hard way. But it was impossible to view him as anything other than the fool who the evil forces had used to create this one last battle. It was difficult to say what the unicorn's, Cholmondeley's, fate would be at this point. His sense was that there were more things left to play out, aspects of the premonitions that they could not understand yet. And these could be the most dangerous of all.

Once again, it was brought home to him that the forces for good used intelligent or innocent humans, while the forces of evil, the foolish. But there was also what Phoebe had once referred to as "the unknown factor," that element of human choice that had nothing to do with fate or destiny. He had been praying since last night that this would not disrupt the carefully balanced guardianship that Trelawney had created. Presently, everything was going in their favor.

He was relatively sure now that the innocent third party was Francine, but he was just as sure that Trelawney had protected her as well. Trelawney's prescience, especially with regard to those she loved was very powerful. Francine had shown her too much loyalty and devotion to be forgotten at this time, especially if Trelawney was the unwitting cause of her danger.

He also strongly suspected that the cousin was Johnny and the threat that he created for the two sisters was probably bringing Cholmondeley here. Both of those fools were mere puppets of a larger force, as was Aunt Henrietta. The only mystery left was who the two sisters were. He was almost certain that they were not Trelawney and Phoebe. They were both too well protected to be injured at this point. There must be another pair out there whom Johnny, probably inadvertently, had caused danger for.

He looked up at the sky and could see that the thunderheads seemed to be building towards some kind of crescendo. He was soaked to the skin, but the air was still so warm and humid that he didn't notice. He knew that his wife would not question him. She had long ago accepted that his odd behaviors were a part of his larger life's works. She was a good woman and he loved her dearly. He would be sorry when she passed on. She had been a wonderful companion for this stage of his life's journey.

Suddenly, he heard his phone ringing inside. It startled him for a second. He went in to pick it up and saw that it was now ten o'clock. It was Janet Tucker.

"Pastor Jason, have you seen my idiot son recently?" she asked angrily, without greeting him.

"Why, no Janet," he replied calmly. "Has he gone off on another rescue mission?"

"Pastor," she said. "If that was supposed to be funny, I'm not laughing. There are times when I'd like to strangle you for encouraging him in his foolishness. I just got off the phone with Lois and Mike is missing as well. The last time she saw him, he was getting into Topher's van and they were going off to save Trelawney from the big jerk."

"The big jerk?" asked Jason, confused.

"I believe that he also goes by the name of the unicorn," she said. "Lois told me that Butch told them that some cousin Liam flew in today from Australia with Sylvia Figalilly to protect Trelawney from this character. That got Mike all fired up, he called up Topher, and now they've gone off to hunt him down or something."

"That was really not very smart," said Jason, becoming worried as well. "They really have no idea of what they are dealing with."

"So I assumed," she replied. "And so did Lois. But now it feels like the storm of the century is raging out there and we have no idea of where they are. Since you seem to be the only one who Topher is listening to these days, I decided to call you up."

Pastor Jason considered this new information. The unknown factor had just presented itself. Both Mike and Topher were very good kids. Topher was also a child of light, but he couldn't tell his mother that. It was impossible to know their motivation at the moment. He suspected that they were assuming that it was only just to protect Trelawney. But they did not know enough to make a good assumption about that. There were many more complex issues at stake than just Trelawney.

"Janet," he finally said. "I know that you are not going to like this answer, but you are just going to have to trust Topher to use his own best instincts to keep Mike and himself out of trouble. There is nothing you can do anyway. I have just stood out in that storm for a few minutes. There is no way that anyone could be going anywhere right now. For all you and Lois know, Mike and Topher are off in a diner chowing down on burgers or something."

"Then why don't they call?"

"Do you really need to ask that question?" he replied reasonably. "You know how teenagers, especially teenage boys, are better than I do."

There was now silence on the other end of the line. Jason hoped that she would accept this explanation so that he could get off the phone and do some more thinking.

"You're probably right," said Janet with a sigh. "But that young man is going to get the talking to of his life when he gets home, if I don't kill him first."

Jason chuckled as he hung up the phone. Typical parental response, he thought. If what I'm worried about doesn't kill you, then I'll kill you when you get home. He knew that he was partially responsible. After all, he was the one that told Topher to follow his own best instincts and that God would be with him. He wondered if Aunt Henrietta had set something in motion that he was now going to have to clean up.

Knowing that Liam Figalilly was definitely in town had just upped the ante. Liam had an intense devotion to family and took his duty to the two orphan sisters as seriously as he would if he himself was already the _paterfamilias._ His temper was certainly not his best asset. It did occur to him however that Mike and Topher, intelligent as they both were, might have decided to join forces in his mission to protect the girls.

In another twist of fate, Butch, who was normally the most discreet of the three Everett siblings, had passed on information to Mike that let him know that Cousin Liam was in town _and _that he was there to find the unicorn. If Mike and Topher learned about what Cholmondeley had done to Trelawney, then things had just grown more complex.

He wondered how much Liam would tell them beyond that. He also considered how much trouble that the three hotheads could get into if they were to meet up with the other two. There had already been one sacrifice in this drama. He really didn't want to see anymore. He wondered how much Liam knew about archetypes. He had a feeling that it wasn't much.

He knew that the Figalillys had all shared with on another the various people in her medieval landscape, but he couldn't be sure if Liam understood the meanings. Liam, for the moment, didn't really need to do anything to protect Phoebe, Maisie, or Trelawney. They were already taken care of. He sat very still. Someone out there wanted the five potential combatants to meet. From his present vantage point, he could only guess whether it was the good or the evil forces now altering fate.

It now appeared that whether he was an intelligent man or a fool, it didn't matter. They were all caught up in forces too complex to understand. While he was able to know many things, he was never able to know the mind of God.

On a whim, he picked up the phone to call Rob Everett. That was when he discovered that the phone line was down. He snapped on the radio and discovered that all kinds of warnings had been posted about the dangerous storm. Presently half the town, including the half where the Everetts lived, was without power and phone. Trees and large limbs were falling all over. The rain made visibility next to zero and the thunder and lightening were very nearly lethal. The warnings told people to find shelter and stay there.

But Jason knew that Topher and Mike had not heeded that advice. They were out in the middle of the storm. He knew that the storm would not stop Cholmondeley from trying to get to Trelawney or Liam, with or without the help of the boys, from trying to get to him. Undoubtedly Johnny was with Cholmondeley. The situation was potentially as explosive as the lightening bolts that were raining down from the heavens. While he prayed that the five would somehow not end up in the same place at the same time, he knew it was futile. It was, quite literally, all in the hands of God.

He cleared his mind of all the complications and nuances of the situation before him. He needed to summon and fall back on his own faith in the rightness of things. He would spend the rest of the night in prayer for the lives at stake of all who were involved. He knew that in the end, they would each be where they needed to be.

He knew that one final step needed to be taken to insure the safety of both Trelawney and Maisie in the world. It was not a permanent safety. Both of them had more work to do for the greater good and there would always be those opposing forces throwing obstacles in the way to that. But now they needed to be given the space to grow up without fear of harm. They each needed a childhood, to provide for them a solid foundation of love upon which to build. And it was only Phoebe, their sister and mother, who could give it to them.

_To be continued . . ._


	5. Chapter 5

**The Final Passage**

Phoebe felt has though she had been pushing for days. But she now knew that her child was coming soon. She was only barely aware of what was happening around her. She could feel Hal's arm around her and hear him helping her to breathe. She was aware of how much she was sweating and could feel the cool towels that he wiped her face and arms with. She was trying not to weep or cry out in pain but she couldn't help it.

The pain was now searing through her in rapid waves, like the sea churned up by a storm and crashing against the rocks. One wave would roll in and crash against the shore. Then the sea would ebb before the next one rolled in. Each time a wave swept in, she had to push down. But the baby didn't seem to move.

Vaguely, she could hear Mrs. Clancy's voice gently encouraging her and trying to sooth her. She knew that she needed to relax, but the pain was too intense. She had reached the point where she just wanted it over. She knew that everyone who needed to be there was there. And they were all praying as Hal helped her through each wave and the nurse and midwife continued to encourage her.

She could feel herself tiring, but she knew that she was not nearly as tired as her Mum had been when she was trying to push out Trelawney. And Hal was certainly more helpful than her father had been. In fairness however, no one in the village had ever thought to have childbirth classes for the fathers.

More than sitting by, Hal was now firmly grasping her and helping her to sit up with each contraction. They then breathed together as the contraction passed. She recalled the desperation in the room twelve years ago, as her mother had been weakened by each attempt. She remembered running through the night first to the doctor and then to her aunt and uncle's home. But in this room, there was no fear. There was no desperation. There was only love and desire.

Each person there desired that the child be born safely to release her from her pain. And they wanted to meet Maisie. She could sense them praying, asking God to release her child to the world. She knew that the intensity of those prayers was creating a protective shield around them, even those of Emmeline, who had only recently accepted God into her heart.

Then, echoing through her mind, she could hear her Mum's voice, clear as bell.

"We're here, Phoebe love," she said soothingly. "We're here. Our granddaughter is beautiful. She'll be with you soon."

"Yes, love," said Papa. "She's a gift straight from God in heaven. Your own little child of light."

In her mind's eye, she struggled to see them, as she knew Trelawney so often had. But that was not within her power. Still, she knew that they were beside her, just as Pastor Jason had promised. They would not leave her alone at this most special time of her life. She looked up and saw Trelawney quietly standing beneath Catherine's arm. She saw them. They were really and truly there.

"She's here Phoebe. But you don't have to do this alone," said her mother gently. "We are releasing her to you now. We have been watching over her, but now it's time for you to take her."

"Take her and love her," said Papa. "We'll always be by your side whenever you need us."

Through the haze of pain, she could hear Mrs. Clancy's voice.

"She's coming, Mrs. Morgan be ready for her," she shouted over the noise of something roaring.

Phoebe could feel the movement downwards within her and she knew that it was true. She was finally coming.

"One more push and we'll have her," said Mrs. Clancy. "Professor, hold her up more so that she can push harder! Phoebe you can do it! Just one more push!"

She felt Hal lift her to almost a sitting position and then mustering what strength she had left, she pushed. As she fell back, she knew that she had done it. She had felt the slippery bulk fall through into the hands of the waiting nurse.

Then she heard the loud crying of the child. All she could think of was the words of the doctor when Trelawney was born.

"With lungs like that we have a healthy baby! It's not the size that matters, it's the lungs," he had cried in relief when she had finally come.

"It's a girl!" said Mrs. Clancy triumphantly. "I told you it was a girl! Come here Professor and do your job."

Hal slipped his arm out from under her and Catherine took his place. She held her up so that she could see Hal cut the umbilical cord and then take the slippery, squalling infant from Mrs. Morgan who had wrapped her in a towel. And then came the moment she had been waiting for. Hal gently placed their newborn daughter in her arms.

She realized that she was crying, no longer from pain but from joy. She could see the perfect little girl through the tears. She looked around in disbelief. Hal had taken her in his arms again and was helping her to sit up. Everyone else in the room had tears in their eyes except Mrs. Clancy. She was too busy giving orders.

"Mark it down Mrs. Morgan," she said. "It's 10:45 pm on August 13. What's the name of the child?"

"Margaret Mary Everett," said Hal as he stared down at the little miracle in her arms.

He brushed back her hair and whispered, "Thank you."

She looked up to answer but found that her heart was too full to speak. Hal looked into her eyes and let her know that he understood. Everyone else was crowding around to see her. Emmeline had put her arm around Trelawney who seemed to be whispering something that she couldn't make out. Emmeline was nodding as she spoke. Catherine was smiling through her own tears and Tom looked stunned. But once again, Mrs. Clancy took charge.

"Okay, Phoebe," she said. "You'll need to give her up for a bit. Mrs. Morgan needs to clean her up and weigh her. I have to deal with the afterbirth and then we'll get you and the bed cleaned up. Once that's done, you can hold her for as long as you want."

Phoebe looked at her reproachfully and the midwife's face softened.

"For the rest of your life in fact," she added gently.

Phoebe reluctantly passed her daughter back to Hal who brought her back to Mrs. Morgan. She looked around confused. For the first time she noticed that the room was dark except for the lantern and spotlights. Next she was aware of the thunder, lightning, and heavy wind. The rain was lashing the windows. It seemed as if things were exploding outside.

"Did the power go out?" she asked. "It sounds all hell has broken loose out there."

"The power went out about three hours ago, dear," said Catherine smiling. "I guess that you were too distracted to notice. And the storm has been going on longer, that's why we had to close all the windows and it's so hot in here."

Phoebe knew that she had been sweating profusely, but she had expected that. Hal was also soaked from holding her. Everyone else in the room looked damp as well. Emmeline smiled at her.

"Do you remember what your Papa said to your Mum after Trelawney was born?" she asked.

Phoebe shook her head, still a little stunned by her own experience.

"There now, Meg, was that so difficult?" she answered her own question, amused. "Of course, it hadn't been nearly as difficult for him as it was for her."

Phoebe gave her a reproachful look and Trelawney rolled her eyes.

"7 pounds, 6 ounces," said Mrs. Morgan. "A nice healthy weight."

"Oh, Phoebe she's lovely," breathed Trelawney. "Just as I always knew that she would be. Our little angel has come home to us, our little Maisie."

"And she did it in much shorter time than you did, love," said Emmeline.

"_Must _you always bring that up?" replied Trelawney. But there was no real annoyance in her voice. She was too happy to be bothered by a little teasing from her favorite cousin.

Phoebe looked at Tom sitting off to the side. He was quietly sitting with his hands folded as if in prayer. He noticed that she was looking at him and returned her gaze. He smiled gently at her.

"Thank you for being here," she said softly.

"I feel honored," he replied. "It's not everyday that you get to witness a miracle."

"No, it's not," said Hal, holding her closer.

She could feel Mrs. Clancy doing the last of her duties. She was hopeful that it would be over soon. Now that she had held her daughter in her arms, she couldn't wait to get her back.

"I'm done with my business with the baby," said Mrs. Morgan. "Professor, I need you to help me fill out the paperwork for the state."

Hal kissed her head and left her side. Trelawney took his place. She climbed up on the bed and curled up beside her and kissed her hand.

"She's just the sweetest thing," she said quietly. "She's so alert, looking around at everything. I think that's because she is looking for her Mum. She's wanting you already."

Phoebe smiled down at the little girl. When things had seemed like they would never end, she had reminded her that Maisie really did want to come out and meet her. Her little one had just wished to spend a few more moments close to her heart. From the earliest weeks, Trelawney had known Maisie and Maisie had known Trelawney. In the end it was Trelawney who made sure that the world would be safe for her daughter.

"Who will hold the baby until Mrs. Clancy is done?" asked Mrs. Morgan, breaking into her thoughts.

"Catherine, will you hold her?" asked Phoebe, turning to her mother-in-law, the woman who had been her strength for all these months. Catherine had shared her dream of this moment since the earliest days of her marriage. It was the night before the blessing that she had promised her that her first daughter would be named Margaret.

"Of course, dear," she said and took her newest grandchild in her arms. Her face, still glowing with perspiration, was suffused with a quiet joy. Although she appeared to be calm, her hands were trembling. She had not held her own children so close to their births.

Phoebe watched as she sat down, cradled her, and kissed her head. She knew that these were moments that she had not been able to share with her other grandchildren. It was part of the way things were done in America. Despite her own eagerness to hold the child, she knew how much this meant to her. She could not imagine living through these last two days without her. Trelawney stood up and wandered over to Catherine so that she could sit beside her and gaze at her niece in awe.

Tom came over to inspect her and said with a catch in his voice, "My goddaughter is beautiful, just like her mother."

Phoebe knew that he was much too moved to say anything more. As her connections with the universal consciousness began to return, she could sense that as much as he loved her and the child, it was a bittersweet moment for him. It was the passing of his own daughter that had made it possible. She noticed him looking over at Trelawney. She knew that he was able to see in her so much of his deceased son. She began to sense that his feelings for them were beginning to surpass the boundaries of surrogate grandfather to the infant.

When she was finished, Mrs. Clancy called Emmeline over to help her clean up. Phoebe was now anxious to be done. Emmeline helped her get up, wash herself, and change while Mrs. Morgan returned and helped Mrs. Clancy change out the sheets for clean ones. In the end, she felt much better, even if she did have to wait a little longer to hold her baby again.

While she waited, she noticed Trelawney was off to the side sitting next to Catherine. She was clutching her doll and looking at her little niece. She also looked very sleepy. It was as if she had finished her own great labor and was finally able to rest. When it was ready, she returned to the bed and once again took her child in her arms. It was a moment like the one twelve years ago, when she had taken Trelawney into her arms for the first time.

Her little girl looked up at her with bright blue eyes filled with wonder and trust. There was also a sense of recognition. Little Maisie knew who her Mum was. They had made a long journey together, nine months in all. But now they were beginning a new one, one that would last a lifetime.

Hal returned and sat on the bed beside her. He put his arm around her and looked down at the tiny little girl. He softly stroked her freshly brushed hair and kissed her head. Then he looked down at little Maisie and did the same. Now that she was here, Phoebe felt the anxiety that had plagued her for the past year slip away. Deep down, in the farthest depths of her soul, she knew that they were all safe. It was midnight and the rumbling in the heavens ceased. The night had fallen quiet.

Once again, Trelawney came over to the bedside and looked at the three of them. She smiled with the first hint of genuine happiness that she had seen in her since she had come to America nineteen months ago. Perhaps now the melancholy that had gripped her little soul for so long would lose its hold. As much as she loved Catherine and was grateful for her loving care of her sister, she wanted her back at home. She looked up at her and let her know that this was what she wanted. Trelawney nodded in assent. It was time for her to return home.

"It's done, Phoebe," she said with a quiet joy, and then quoted from Robert Browning's poem "Pippa's Song:"

"Lark's on the wing;

Snail's on the thorn;

God's in his heaven!

All's right with the world."

Hal was too busy gazing at his newborn daughter to realize it, but Trelawney and Maisie exchanged a single glance of recognition and then both looked at her. The three of them shared a special bond such as she and Trelawney had shared with Mum. They would now love and protect each other.

"I know," said Phoebe softly.

Trelawney returned to Catherine, curled up with her doll, and fell asleep. Catherine began to stroke the long blonde curls, which had become tangled after the last two long days. Who knew how long it would take to untangle them? Perhaps now she would permit them to cut off a few inches to make it easier to manage. She smiled back at Phoebe and nodded. Phoebe snuggled in closer to her husband. For now at least, she and Catherine each had their own little girls to care for.

Seeing that the storm had quieted, Tom and Emmeline said that they would go downstairs to wait for Rob. They couldn't contact him but he would certainly know that the child was there. Everyone had said that she would be born on August 13. It was now August 14.

**The First Visitors**

It was midnight before the rain, lightening, and wind abated so that Sylvia and Rob could safely walk down the street to Phoebe's. The storm dissipated, rather than moved on. It was most odd, but both were too eager to get down to the house to really think about it. They knew that the baby must have been born by now. The street was filled with debris, as well as the yard. It took them a bit longer to get down the block than usual.

"Well that's why we lost power," said Rob, pointing at the enormous tree limb that had knocked out the power and phone lines in front of Hal's house, on the same side as Fowlers house.

"Will we be able to get around them to get in?" asked Sylvia nervously.

"If we go around the other side and enter through the neighbor's yard we should be all right," he replied, pointing to the left.

Sylvia knew that he was just as anxious as she was about the new baby. After all, it was his grandchild. After they had picked through the debris, they knocked on the door. Tom and Emmeline answered immediately. They looked damp and tousled. Just like at Rob's house, the inside was hot and muggy.

"She's here," said Tom wearily, before they even had the chance to ask. "Little Margaret Mary Everett made her appearance at 10:45 pm."

"How big?" Sylvia asked.

"7 pounds, 6 ounces," he replied. "Why don't you come in and see for yourselves?"

Sylvia and Rob followed him up the stairs. She noticed that Fifi was sitting beside Elspeth near the stairs, but was too excited to see the baby to ask about it. At the top of the stairs, they could see the master bedroom lit by a lantern and a couple of spotlights. And there, right on the bed, sitting up and holding her newborn daughter cradled in her arms was Phoebe.

Sylvia noted the clear blue aura. Her cousin was at peace. Hal was seated beside her with his arm protectively around his wife and newborn child. His aura was also a clear blue. Though unlike she had seen between Phoebe and Trelawney, the auras were not merged. Nonetheless, they both looked extremely happy.

Emmeline and Tom moved aside so that they could see the little girl. She was wide-awake and seemed to be surveying her new surroundings. Phoebe looked up and gave them a beautiful smile.

"Isn't she lovely?" she asked in a tone of voice that mingled awe and disbelief.

Sylvia smiled and nodded. She had been present when her sister Christabel had given birth to her two children. With both it had been the same. The birth of any child was a miracle. This child might be a child of light, but she had come into the world the same way as any other.

"Weren't you afraid when the lights went out?" asked Rob.

"Phoebe didn't even know that the lights went out," answered Trelawney sleepily from the side where she was sitting with Catherine. "She was so busy pushing that she didn't notice. And Mr. Williams lit the lantern and the spotlights so quickly that it was even difficult for us to notice as well."

Suddenly Phoebe realized something.

"Sylvia," she said. "What are you doing here?"

Sylvia and Emmeline exchanged a glance.

"Well," she said. "I was in the neighborhood, you might say, and I decided to drop in to see the little nipper make her appearance in the world."

"I thought that you were in Japan," she said, looking a little dazed.

"Oh, I was done with my business there," she replied. "I'm off to Toronto in a few days. It worked out conveniently that I was passing through at the right time."

Phoebe accepted her explanation and looked down at the baby again. Hal moved over and put his arm around her more closely. They sat together admiring their little miracle. Rob moved closer for a better look. He reached his finger forward and the little one grasped it. His face lit up in a smile of delight.

Sylvia noticed that Trelawney was clinging to Catherine and her doll at the same time. She looked very sleepy, but also very happy. Her aura was once again a deep violet. No doubt she had been working very hard as well tonight. But something else had changed in her affect. She appeared to be more at peace. When she was more awake, she would have to ask her about it.

With a tip of the head, Emmeline indicated that she wanted to speak to her and Tom in the hallway. As always, Emmeline had to take charge of everything. But Sylvia had a question first.

"Why is Fifi here?" she asked, when they had reached the bottom of the steps.

"To make a long story, short," Emmeline replied. "Trelawney insisted that Francine and Mrs. Fowler come over here for their own safety. But more important, what is this about Liam gone missing?"

"Aren't you afraid that Trelawney will hear our conversation?" she asked, indicating that she knew about the girl's newly emerged powers of perception.

"Oh, I doubt that very much," said Emmeline. "Aside from the fact that she is half asleep, she is completely focused on Maisie. Now what about Liam?"

"He's still missing," replied Sylvia. "Sometime this afternoon he went out with Topher and Mike. Rob and I weren't around, but Waldo was. He told us that they went off to find the unicorn."

Suddenly, Tom burst out in annoyance.

"All right you two!" he said. "This is not about guessing what the dog said. This is actual information. Answer this question once and for all. Do you talk to animals?"

Sylvia and Emmeline exchanged an amused glance.

"Yes, we do," replied Emmeline. "And so do Phoebe and Trelawney. It goes along with tapping into the universal consciousness."

Before Tom could ask any more questions, Sylvia interrupted.

"You know Waldo is as good at eavesdropping and tattling as our Elspeth," she said. "You'll need to remember that in the future."

"Well, anyway," said Emmeline. "Do we know where they went?"

"There's no way of knowing," shrugged Sylvia. "No phones, no lights. They must have figured something out. The boys told him that Johnny was in town. That probably set him off. I wouldn't want to be Johnny if he finds him."

"Is this the thing that you didn't want me to know about earlier?" asked Tom. "That you and Liam were here and presumably the 'unicorn' is somewhere unguarded?"

"Yes," she said. "But they don't have to know about it upstairs, that Liam is here that is. I wouldn't want to allow any hint of upset to spoil their happiness right now."

"Except for Trelawney," said Emmeline. "She knows, but has been canny enough not to say anything. This has been a wonderful night for Phoebe and we want nothing to break the spell for her. That will come soon enough when the nappies start piling up and the other kids are making demands."

"Yes, except for her. Oh, and Emmeline, I can see that nothing has changed. You have always been such a romantic about children, you were," agreed Sylvia. "But you and I are going to have to have a chat about the little one. If she's not careful, she could end up in some big trouble from knowing more than is good for her to know."

"Well, in her case we can't do anything about the knowing. But we will have a word with her about acting on what she knows," Emmeline sighed. "That's the least of our worries right now. We need to find Liam and the lads."

"What about Bernice and Prudence? Are they safe?" asked Tom.

"No concerns there," Sylvia assured him. "Last night before the lights went out, Bernice called to say that they were staying out of town until the storm blew through. Considering how late it is they probably are staying somewhere overnight. With the phones out here, there's no way for them to contact us, but I wouldn't worry."

"Neither would I. I know how cautious my wife is," said Tom. "But I just wanted to make sure. I guess that the long and the short of it is that we really can't know anything about anything outside the house because until the phone lines are working again. And who knows how long that will take to fix? I'm guessing that tree limbs are down left and right."

"Yes," said Sylvia. "And that's a pity. It may be a while before anyone can call young Hal and let him know that his little sister is here. I know that he was quite anxious."

"We can work on that tomorrow or better put later today," replied Tom. "I am sure that we can make arrangements with somebody in town who has power."

Mrs. Morgan came downstairs.

"We really need to think about getting some of you folks out of the house and the rest to bed," she said. "The Professor and Mrs. Everett need some time alone with their new daughter. I will be staying up with them to help Phoebe and Maisie get started nursing, but there's no reason for anyone else to stay up."

"What do Rob and Catherine have to say?" asked Emmeline.

"They are taking Trelawney home, she's nearly asleep anyway," she replied. "Mrs. Fowler and her daughter are soundly sleeping in Prudence's room. They know that the baby was born, but we decided that it would be too confusing for Phoebe if they came in to see her. Mrs. Clancy is asleep in the boys' room, so there's another bed in there. I'm planning on sitting up in the nursery to give them some privacy. When Mrs. Everett needs me, the Professor can come and get me."

"I'll stay," said Emmeline. "You'll need someone to take care of the cooking and other household needs. I've done all that before here, so I know my way around the place. Tom and Sylvia, you should go back with Rob. That way we can all sleep in beds. We'll need the rest for tomorrow."

"But what about . . ." began Tom.

"That's why we'll need our rest," she said firmly. "He can take care of himself and the lads too no doubt."

"You're right," sighed Sylvia. "There's nothing more to be done tonight. The sooner we're all out of here, the less chance there is that Phoebe will figure it out for herself. We want nothing to ruin her joy."

"Trust me," said Emmeline. "Everything will work out just fine in the end."

**What Trelawney Knew**

After they were at last settled in bed and Catherine had left them alone, Sylvia heard a voice call out in the dark.

"Syl, are you still awake?" asked Trelawney quietly.

"Yes, love," she replied. "But shouldn't you be asleep?"

"Yes, Sylvia," she said obediently. "But I must tell you about Liam."

"What do you know about Liam?" asked Sylvia cautiously.

"I know that he flew in with you on your plane," she said. "And I know that he went out with my two gallant knights to slay the unicorn."

"How did you know that?" she asked.

"I knew when Rob came to the door with Tessa," she replied. "Tessa told me everything."

"First Elspeth, and now Tessa," said Sylvia with annoyance. "You have nothing but spies all around us. But Liam didn't go missing until after you had Tessa."

"Mr. Everett called Emmeline looking for him," she replied. "I knew what that meant."

"Trelawney Rose," said Sylvia severely now. "One of these days you'll discover that listening in on phone conversations will never do."

"Like you don't!" she said with a "humph." "But I was not spying or listening in on anyone. Liam called out to me. I heard him. He was in the yard with Topher, Mike, Johnny, and the unicorn. He wanted to be my gallant knight and kill the unicorn."

"When was this?" asked Sylvia slowly.

"When Phoebe was trying to push Maisie out," she answered. "He saw the light in the window. He knew that a child of light was born. And he couldn't do it. He couldn't kill the unicorn. But he wanted to."

"What did he ask you for?"

"He asked me to help him not kill him," she said. "He wanted me to help to save his soul."

"Did he kill the unicorn?" asked Sylvia.

"No," replied Trelawney. "I prayed and I prayed. The unicorn wanted to kill him and Topher. But someone else killed him first. The unicorn is truly dead. But my Liam is all right."

"Do you know who killed him?" asked Sylvia slowly.

"No," replied the girl. "It is not allowed. But he is gone. I told Emmeline but she didn't believe me. But I never lie. The unicorn is dead and Maisie is born. The storm is over. The light has won. Auntie was wrong."

Sylvia felt the little girl cuddle up to her. She contemplated what she had been just been told. There were still many gaps to be filled in. But she knew that her brother was safe and in the end had turned back to God. Just like Emmeline, Trelawney's goodness had broken down the barrier between him and God.

She put her arm around the child who snuggled closer. She knew that she wanted desperately to be with her Phoebe, but she also understood that Maisie now came first. Yet this little girl needed a mother too. She needed her own mother. Whatever would be done with the child in the future would take careful planning. But now she was tired. Trelawney's breathing had fallen into the even rhythm of sleep. Emmeline was right. They would all need a good night's rest to face the day tomorrow.

**Epilogue**

Catherine felt happier than she had been at the time of any of her other grandchildren's births, in those cases, they had waited at home for the news and then came down several days later, after the child had come home. Bernice had been in charge of the house and had only grudgingly let them spend a few days with the new baby. But she also knew that this moment had not happened for any of them. It was a custom from a world that still lived in an earlier age that had made it possible.

The atmosphere in the house had been tense during those visits. Since all the children had been born during the school year, Hal went right back to work. Without him around to advocate for them, they had never been really comfortable. It had only been weeks later when they had come back while the Williams were not around they really felt that they could get to know their grandchildren.

But tonight, she had watched as Maisie had entered the world and her son cut the umbilical cord. Then she wept with everyone else as Phoebe held her daughter for the first time, given to her by her husband. But the final moment of joy for her came when Phoebe gave her the privilege of holding her newest grandchild, only several minutes old, until she was able to take her. Looking at the little red creature, newly cleaned, and looking around at her new world, she was reminded of her own three sons.

None of them had looked so alert, even though it was a couple of hours after birth that she had finally seen them. Nor did they stare up at her knowingly with bright blue eyes full of curiosity and wonder. It almost made her feel as though she knew that she was her Grammy. Of course she had spent nearly every day with Phoebe and they had talked so much together that Catherine wondered if perhaps she didn't know her voice as well as Hal's. She probably knew Trelawney's as well.

She was a bit surprised that Trelawney had not asked to hold her, but it occurred to her that, sensitive as the child was, she knew how much it meant to her to hold the newborn. She had happily settled for sitting by her side and peeking at the little bundle with her own combination of love and curiosity. When Phoebe was ready, Emmeline helped her back into bed and once she was comfortably settled, Catherine had returned her.

Since that time, Phoebe had not relinquished the child into anyone else's arms, but who could blame her? This was the child that she had dreamed of for over a year and then she had nurtured close to her heart for nine months. It was perfectly natural that, despite her own weariness, she would not want to let go of her again.

Trelawney was still seated curled up beside her, nearly asleep now in her arms. Once the child was born, she had suddenly relaxed. No doubt Rob was going to have to carry her back up to the house. Mrs. Clancy had gone to bed and Mrs. Morgan had gone downstairs to discuss getting everyone out of the house that wasn't needed anymore. They had plenty of beds for everyone up at their house.

She looked over at Hal and Phoebe who appeared to be in a world of their own, so absorbed were they in their little girl. Mrs. Morgan was right. They did need time alone to enjoy her. All too soon, the other children would return home and the other relatives and friends would be over to admire her. Fortunately, in a few weeks school would start and they would have long days home alone together.

Mrs. Morgan was going to stay a few days to help Phoebe start nursing. In fact, she would stay up with them as long as they needed tonight. She planned to do her crocheting in the comfortable rocking chair in the nursery. The baby would certainly be hungry before morning. Looking at the clock, she could see that it was already 1 am.

Mrs. Morgan came quietly into the room to tell them that Sylvia and Tom would be returning with them to their house. Emmeline would stay to help with the cooking and housework. She and Rob got up and said their goodbyes to Hal, Phoebe, and little Maisie. As Trelawney kissed Hal goodbye, Catherine heard her whisper in his ear.

"Well done!"

He smiled back at her and patted her on the back. Then she gave Phoebe a hug and kiss, and looked down at Maisie in wonder. Finally, before leaving, the little girl took one last, longing look at her new niece and, after Catherine returned the doll to her, she allowed Rob to pick her up. She was asleep by the time they reached the bottom of the stairs. Tom offered to carry her back, but Rob didn't want to disturb her. He said that she was light as a feather. Then with Tom and Sylvia, and Elspeth at their heels, they walked carefully back up the street to their house.

As they walked back, they explained to her that Liam had come in with Sylvia. He had lost track of Cholmondeley and was determined to guard Trelawney and Phoebe on this end. Before the storm he had gone out with Mike and Topher to search for him. Apparently Cousin John, having tipped him off as to Liam's intent to guard him and keep him away from the girls, was with him. He had probably also told him that everyone knew what had happened to Trelawney.

"Why didn't you tell me before?" she asked.

"We didn't want anything to disturb Phoebe's happiness," explained Sylvia. "Emmeline knows that he is out there, but no one else in the house does. Remember that she is capable of concealing her thoughts."

"Do you think that they are safe?" asked Catherine.

"If they weren't, Trelawney would not be sleeping so peacefully," she replied. "Nor would she have voluntarily left the house. Whatever was going to happen with regard to that has happened. We will just have to wait to get the news in the morning."

Catherine nodded. She hoped that the two boys were safe, however she felt a high degree of certainty that they were. If anything had happened to them, then Trelawney surely would have known. Something had occurred that had allowed her to fall asleep so peacefully. But looking around at the moment she was just amazed by the condition of the street.

Sylvia and Rob were shining their flashlights all around so that they could see a bit of the devastation. It was going to take days to clean up the mess. The house was dark of course when they got home. Sylvia called out hopefully for Liam, but there was no answer. She didn't have the wherewithal to ask how she thought that he could get into the house without a key. Then for some odd reason, after Rob had put Trelawney in bed, he and Tom made a thorough search of the house. Once again, she was too tired to ask why.

She tucked the little girl in as she always did. She didn't even bother with a nightgown. In a final motherly gesture, she smoothed back the tangled curls and kissed her forehead. As she made her way out of her bedroom, she heard Trelawney call out.

"Mama Kate! Please don't leave me alone in the dark."

She was bone weary, but prepared to sit down in the rocking chair when Sylvia stopped her.

"Is it all right, love," she asked Trelawney, "If your cousin Syl sleeps with you? Your Mama Kate is very tired."

"Yes, Sylvia," she replied quietly and moved over.

Sylvia lay down beside her, still fully dressed herself, and picked up her left hand. She was holding her doll in her right. Catherine knew that she was safe, but she couldn't quite make out why she still wanted company. Perhaps she would need to get used to sleeping alone. She went to her own room where she found Rob already in bed. He was looking at her curiously.

"Well, Catherine," he said. "It's been almost fifty years, but she's finally here."

"Who?" she asked, momentarily confused.

"Why Margaret Everett of course!" he said with a smile.

Catherine smiled to herself. Yes, Margaret Everett was now with them. And she wouldn't be Maggie for her own mother, or Meg for Phoebe's mother. She would be Maisie, her own unique name. Catherine suspected that she would be a very unique child.

**The End**


End file.
